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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. spring — of water
  3. cap — a hat
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. band — a music group
  6. spring — the season
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. drill — army training
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. fall — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. plane — a tool
  14. sharp — clever
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cap — of ice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cap — a lid
  19. band — a ring
  20. fall — to drop
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. spring — a coil
  24. sharp — with an edge

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