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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bat — the animal
  4. hand — in cards
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. can — to be able to
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. foot — a measure
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. can — a tin
  15. branch — a division
  16. lean — to bend
  17. hand — help
  18. roll — a cake
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. lean — thin
  23. roll — a list
  24. branch — of a bank

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