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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. rash — a series
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. stem — to come from
  6. spring — of water
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. mine — for digging
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. rash — hasty
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. ground — a position
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. ground — the earth
  18. spring — the season
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. calf — a young animal

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