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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rush — hurry
  5. court — of law
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. court — for sport
  8. stem — to come from
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. spring — a coil
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. spring — of water
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. court — of a king
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wound — an injury
  22. shower — rain
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. spring — 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