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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. scale — in music
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. spring — of water
  6. scale — size or range
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. season — in sport
  11. spring — the season
  12. season — of the year
  13. spring — a coil
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wind — moving air
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. band — a ring
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wind — moving air
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. season — to add flavour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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