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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. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. dip — to sink
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wake — a trail
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. spring — a coil
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. spring — the season
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stem — to come from
  22. spring — of water
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. cold — the Cold War

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