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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. season — of the year
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kid — child
  6. chest — of your body
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. cell — in biology
  11. mug — a cup
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. mug — to rob
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kid — to tease
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. stem — to come from
  19. season — in sport
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chest — a box
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. stem — a stem cell

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