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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. suit — in cards
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. clip — to cut
  10. stem — to come from
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. suit — to fit
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. clip — a video
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. clip — for paper
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. suit — clothes
  22. bat — the animal
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. stem — a stem cell

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