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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. present — a gift
  4. pound — a weight
  5. mine — for digging
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. season — in sport
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. present — the time now
  13. stem — to come from
  14. lie — to recline
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. season — of the year
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. present — there
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. snap — to click

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