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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bark — to shout
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stem — to come from
  6. swing — music
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. spell — letters
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. spell — a short time
  12. ground — crushed
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. current — electric
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ground — a position
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bore — to drill
  19. swing — in golf
  20. spell — magic
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. current — happening now
  24. current — of water

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