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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. tube — a container
  4. game — a match
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. face — part of the head
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. rush — hurry
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. season — in sport
  13. hand — in cards
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. tube — the underground
  17. season — of the year
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. face — to confront
  21. game — wild animals
  22. face — to point toward
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. hand — help

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