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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. kid — to tease
  6. row — a line
  7. row — to paddle
  8. spring — of water
  9. plane — a tool
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. spring — a coil
  13. craft — a skill
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. spring — the season
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. kid — child
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. stem — to come from
  23. craft — boats
  24. chair — a leader

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