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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — there
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mate — a partner
  7. dip — to sink
  8. mate — to breed
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. band — a music group
  11. game — wild animals
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. row — a line
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. mate — a friend
  16. stem — to come from
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. band — a ring
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. row — to paddle
  22. present — the time now
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. stem — a stem cell

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