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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. stand — to bear
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. stem — to come from
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. ground — crushed
  7. last — final
  8. ground — the earth
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. last — finally
  14. ground — a position
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. cell — in biology
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. cell — a phone
  20. last — to go on
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. mine — for digging
  24. cell — in a prison

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