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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cold — not warm
  3. land — a country
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. land — to come down
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. bat — the animal
  11. press — newspapers
  12. stem — to come from
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. press — to push
  18. press — a publisher
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cold — an illness
  24. calf — a young animal

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