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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. row — a line
  5. stem — to come from
  6. present — the time now
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rush — hurry
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. capital — a city
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. plane — a tool
  18. row — to paddle
  19. present — a gift
  20. capital — money
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. plane — in geometry

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