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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 120 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. rash — hasty
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chair — a leader
  6. file — a document
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. file — a tool
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. rash — a series
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stem — to come from
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. mine — an explosive

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