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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rush — hurry
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. chair — a leader
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. capital — a city
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. rash — a series
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. capital — money

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