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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. stem — to come from
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. court — of law
  7. capital — a city
  8. current — electric
  9. spring — the season
  10. court — of a king
  11. capital — money
  12. current — happening now
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. spring — a coil
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. court — for sport
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. spring — of water
  24. current — of water

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