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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. capital — a city
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. capital — money
  6. snap — to click
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. shower — rain
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. last — final
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. last — finally
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. shower — to wash
  24. last — to go on

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