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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — money
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bulb — for light
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. face — to point toward
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chest — of your body
  15. face — to confront
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — a city
  19. face — part of the head
  20. bulb — for light
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. capital — a big letter
  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