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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. capital — money
  3. land — a country
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. land — ground
  7. shower — rain
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. season — of the year
  11. land — to come down
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. season — in sport
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. capital — a city
  22. stem — to come from
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. trunk — of a car

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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