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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. stem — to come from
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. pitch — completely
  11. rush — hurry
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. race — humankind
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. race — the arms race
  18. shower — rain
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. shower — to wash
  21. race — a contest
  22. spring — of water
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. cell — in biology

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