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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pop — soda
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — a position
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. pop — music
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. land — a country
  11. pit — in a race
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pit — a hole
  16. land — to come down
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. spring — the season
  19. pop — to visit
  20. spring — of water
  21. land — ground
  22. ground — the earth
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. bat — in an idiom

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