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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. spell — letters
  3. shower — to wash
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. shower — rain
  6. object — to protest
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spell — a short time
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — money
  13. object — an aim
  14. snap — to click
  15. capital — a city
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. object — a thing
  18. degree — an amount
  19. spell — magic
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stem — to come from
  24. capital — a big letter

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