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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. game — a match
  6. row — a line
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stem — to come from
  11. game — wild animals
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bore — to drill
  14. snap — to click
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bore — to tire
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cell — in biology
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cell — a phone
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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