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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stem — to come from
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. chair — a leader
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — a country
  11. shower — rain
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. board — to get on
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. land — to come down
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. board — a committee
  22. wound — an injury
  23. shower — to wash
  24. chair — to sit on

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