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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. staff — a stick
  4. staff — employees
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. tear — from crying
  8. land — a country
  9. spring — of water
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. tear — to rip
  12. spring — a coil
  13. land — to come down
  14. stem — to come from
  15. spring — the season
  16. scale — in music
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. scale — size or range
  19. staff — employees
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pound — a weight
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. tear — from crying
  24. branch — a division

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