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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. That must've been 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. saw — the tool
  2. face — to confront
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. fall — the season
  6. saw — the tool
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. game — wild animals
  11. fall — to drop
  12. face — to point toward
  13. stem — to come from
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. rush — hurry
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. kick — in football
  20. game — a match
  21. face — part of the head
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. rush — a thrill
  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