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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. perch — the fish
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. suit — in cards
  5. bank — for money
  6. game — a match
  7. spring — of water
  8. stem — to come from
  9. season — of the year
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. spring — the season
  12. cold — an illness
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bank — of a river
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cold — not warm
  19. suit — clothes
  20. bank — for money
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. season — in sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. game — wild animals

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