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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 116 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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. ground — crushed
  3. stem — to come from
  4. spell — magic
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. ground — the earth
  7. track — a song
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — a short time
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. sharp — clever
  12. track — to keep track
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cell — a phone
  15. shower — to wash
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. ground — a position
  19. shower — rain
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cell — in biology
  24. snap — to click

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