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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. rush — hurry
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. game — wild animals
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. race — the arms race
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. band — a ring
  16. game — a match
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. band — a music group
  19. sharp — clever
  20. race — humankind
  21. deal — to handle
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. race — a contest
  24. game — a kind of play

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