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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. tube — the underground
  3. stand — to bear
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — the earth
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. chest — a box
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stem — to come from
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. prune — to trim
  18. ground — a position
  19. tube — a container
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. hand — help
  22. bat — the animal
  23. chest — of your body
  24. prune — the fruit

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