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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wound — an injury
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. pit — a hole
  5. root — of a word
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. root — of a plant
  12. pass — a permit
  13. root — the cause
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rule — government
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. rule — a law

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