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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mug — to rob
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. hand — in cards
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — a trail
  9. hand — help
  10. stem — to come from
  11. spring — of water
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. can — to be able to
  14. mug — a cup
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kid — child
  20. mug — a face
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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