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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stem — to come from
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. spring — a coil
  6. mug — to rob
  7. tube — a container
  8. land — a country
  9. mug — a face
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. spring — of water
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. spring — the season
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. mug — a cup
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. tube — the underground

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