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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. spell — magic
  4. press — to push
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. chest — a box
  8. press — newspapers
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. press — a publisher
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mate — a partner
  15. spell — letters
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mate — a friend
  18. spell — a short time

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