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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. squash — to crush
  5. rash — a series
  6. stem — to come from
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. squash — the sport
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. cap — a hat
  13. vault — a safe
  14. cap — of ice
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bat — the animal
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cap — a lid
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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