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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. ground — the earth
  4. stem — to come from
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. band — a music group
  7. lean — thin
  8. staff — employees
  9. shower — rain
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. kid — to tease
  13. ground — crushed
  14. staff — employees
  15. kid — child
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. band — a ring
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — to paddle
  20. shower — to wash
  21. lean — to bend
  22. staff — a stick
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. row — a line

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