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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. lean — thin
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. court — for sport
  11. lean — to bend
  12. mine — for digging
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. court — of law
  15. net — after costs
  16. stem — to come from
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. court — of a king
  20. season — in sport
  21. season — of the year
  22. net — in sport
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. net — for catching

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