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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. land — a country
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. cap — a lid
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. net — in sport
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — to come down
  17. cap — of ice
  18. net — for catching
  19. cap — a hat
  20. fall — to drop
  21. net — after costs
  22. fall — to drop
  23. land — ground
  24. fall — the season

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