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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. spring — of water
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. present — there
  6. stem — to come from
  7. charge — in control
  8. charge — a price
  9. bat — the animal
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spring — the season
  13. charge — electricity
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. present — the time now
  16. pit — a hole
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pit — in a race
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — for baseball

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