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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. row — to paddle
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. scale — size or range
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. row — a line
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. scale — in music
  14. rush — hurry
  15. stem — to come from
  16. band — a music group
  17. cold — not warm
  18. date — the fruit
  19. band — a ring
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. cold — an illness
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. lie — to recline

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