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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. hand — help
  4. tear — from crying
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. tear — to rip
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. board — a committee
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spring — a coil
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. squash — the sport
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spring — the season
  18. board — to get on
  19. band — a ring
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. band — a music group
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. squash — to crush
  24. band — a rubber band

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