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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. snap — to click
  3. kid — child
  4. spring — a coil
  5. land — a country
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. ground — the earth
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. spring — of water
  19. ground — a position
  20. spring — the season
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. land — to come down
  24. stem — to come from

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