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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 116 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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. stem — to come from
  4. chip — to eat
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. tear — from crying
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. tear — to rip
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. chip — for betting

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