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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. capital — a city
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. craft — a skill
  12. cell — a phone
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wake — a trail
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. stem — to come from
  18. capital — money
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. craft — boats
  24. wake — before a funeral

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