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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. present — the time now
  4. spring — a coil
  5. present — a gift
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. spell — letters
  12. spring — the season
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spring — of water
  15. stem — to come from
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spell — magic
  18. present — there

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com