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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. stem — to come from
  3. toast — bread
  4. cap — of ice
  5. kid — child
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. pit — a hole
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. shower — rain
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. kid — to tease
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cap — a hat
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — a division
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cap — a lid
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. lean — to bend
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stem — of a plant

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