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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. spring — a coil
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chip — for betting
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. degree — an amount
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spring — of water
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. tear — to rip
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. degree — temperature
  18. date — the fruit
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. kick — in football
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stem — to come from
  23. spring — the season
  24. kick — with a leg

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