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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. band — a music group
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. kick — in football
  9. spring — of water
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. stem — to come from
  13. lean — to bend
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. ground — the earth
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. lean — thin

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