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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. rest — what's left
  3. file — a line of people
  4. rest — a break
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. spring — of water
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — of ice
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. chip — for betting
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. rest — what's left
  14. chip — to eat
  15. bark — to shout
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. file — a tool
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — to confront
  21. cap — a hat
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. file — a document

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