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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. rest — what's left
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wind — moving air
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. season — in sport
  10. vault — a safe
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. season — of the year
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — moving air
  19. last — to go on
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. last — final
  24. last — finally

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