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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. spring — of water
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. shower — to wash
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. shower — rain
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kick — in football
  10. spring — the season
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cap — a hat
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. spell — letters
  16. cap — a lid
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. rash — hasty
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. cap — of ice
  21. spring — a coil
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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