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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. lean — thin
  4. present — the time now
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. file — a document
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. stem — to come from
  12. cell — a phone
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. perch — the fish
  18. present — a gift
  19. file — a tool
  20. present — there
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. lean — to bend
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. file — a line of people

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