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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. hand — in cards
  7. sharp — clever
  8. stem — to come from
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — of water
  11. bore — to drill
  12. hand — help
  13. dip — to sink
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. band — a ring
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. band — a music group
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bore — to tire
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. spring — the season
  24. stem — a stem cell

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