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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 happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. game — wild animals
  4. stem — to come from
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. spring — a coil
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. bear — the animal
  11. game — a match
  12. scale — in music
  13. shower — to wash
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bear — the animal
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — clever
  24. scale — size or range

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