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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. dip — to sink
  3. file — a tool
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. swing — to play on
  7. spring — the season
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. fall — to drop
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. kid — child
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. spring — of water
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — in golf
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. stem — to come from
  24. wound — an injury

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