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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. lie — to recline
  3. march — the month
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. shower — to wash
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. chest — a box
  14. rush — hurry
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. spring — the season
  18. march — music
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. chest — of your body
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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