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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. game — wild animals
  3. chest — of your body
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. branch — a division
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cold — not warm
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. toast — bread
  13. saw — the tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. branch — of a bank

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