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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 124 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. shower — rain
  3. swing — in golf
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. ground — a position
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. wind — moving air
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. swing — to play on
  10. ground — crushed
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. season — in sport
  15. stem — to come from
  16. swing — music
  17. season — of the year
  18. ground — the earth

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