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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. current — happening now
  4. cell — a phone
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. squash — the sport
  9. shower — to wash
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. current — electric
  12. capital — money
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. current — of water
  15. squash — to crush
  16. capital — a city
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. shower — rain
  20. cell — in biology
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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