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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. firm — steady
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bat — the animal
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. spring — the season
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. spring — of water
  9. dip — to sink
  10. perch — the fish
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. mine — for digging
  17. firm — a company
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. firm — decided
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. spring — a coil
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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