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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. root — of a word
  4. spring — the season
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spring — a coil
  8. root — the cause
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. root — of a plant
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. stem — to come from
  16. land — ground
  17. spring — of water
  18. ball — a dance
  19. land — to come down
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. land — a country
  22. mine — for digging
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a round shape

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