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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cold — not warm
  3. spring — of water
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bear — the animal
  9. branch — a division
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bear — the animal
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. tube — a container
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. spring — the season
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stem — to come from
  22. tube — the underground
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. branch — of a bank

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