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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. file — a tool
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mate — a friend
  8. spell — letters
  9. press — newspapers
  10. spell — magic
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stem — to come from
  16. spell — a short time
  17. file — a document
  18. mate — a partner
  19. file — a line of people
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chest — a box
  23. press — to push
  24. press — a publisher

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