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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. spring — the season
  3. chip — for betting
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. chip — to eat
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rash — hasty
  12. present — a gift
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. craft — boats
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rash — a series
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. craft — a skill
  21. present — the time now
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — of water
  24. rash — on the skin

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