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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — a series
  6. cap — of ice
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. spring — of water
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cap — a lid
  14. stem — to come from
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. spring — the season
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. craft — boats
  21. row — a line
  22. craft — a skill
  23. cap — a hat
  24. stem — of a plant

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