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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. land — a country
  6. capital — money
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. land — ground
  10. branch — a division
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. game — a match
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — rain
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. capital — a city
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. stem — to come from

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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