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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bear — the animal
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — letters
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. hand — help
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. cap — a hat
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spell — a short time
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pound — a weight
  19. hand — in cards
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bear — the animal
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. cap — of ice

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