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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. spring — the season
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. game — wild animals
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. stem — to come from
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — a group
  12. fall — the season
  13. row — a line
  14. row — to paddle
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. spring — a coil
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fall — to drop
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. chip — to eat
  22. club — for dancing
  23. spring — of water
  24. chip — for betting

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