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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. cold — an illness
  5. race — the arms race
  6. stem — to come from
  7. saw — the tool
  8. race — humankind
  9. fine — high quality
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. club — for golf
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. race — a contest
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. mine — for digging
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for dancing
  21. fine — all right
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cold — not warm
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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