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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — of ice
  8. spell — a short time
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cap — a hat
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. spell — magic
  14. shower — rain
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. rush — hurry
  18. spell — letters
  19. dip — to sink
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. stem — to come from
  22. vault — a safe
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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