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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fall — the season
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. stem — to come from
  6. present — a gift
  7. hand — help
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. band — a ring
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mine — for digging
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. fall — to drop
  16. band — a music group
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. fall — to drop
  19. hand — in cards
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — there
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. lash — to lash out

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