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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. land — a country
  4. spring — of water
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. drill — the tool
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. season — of the year
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. land — ground
  13. perch — the fish
  14. land — to come down
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. season — in sport
  20. drill — army training
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. drill — a practice

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