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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. track — a song
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. season — of the year
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. object — to protest
  12. track — to keep track
  13. object — an aim
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. march — music
  17. season — in sport
  18. object — a thing
  19. march — the month
  20. stem — to come from
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. track — a path
  24. march — the month

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