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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 120 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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 — part of the body
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. last — finally
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — to come from
  7. last — final
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. cap — a lid
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. cap — a hat
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cap — of ice
  16. file — a tool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. last — to go on
  19. file — a line of people
  20. degree — an amount
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. file — a document
  23. hand — help
  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