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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mate — a partner
  3. present — there
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. cell — in biology
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. mate — to breed
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. mate — a friend
  11. present — a gift
  12. face — to point toward
  13. present — the time now
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. spell — magic
  18. cell — a phone
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. face — to confront
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. face — part of the head
  24. hand — in cards

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