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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. row — a line
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. spring — a coil
  7. kick — in football
  8. fall — the season
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. pass — a permit
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. rock — music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. spring — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spring — of water
  19. rock — a stone
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. cold — not warm

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