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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bat — the animal
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. pass — a permit
  14. band — a music group
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. cold — not warm
  18. band — a ring
  19. lie — to recline
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stem — to come from
  24. lie — an untruth

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