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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 116 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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. stem — to come from
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. degree — temperature
  5. land — a country
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. band — a music group
  8. craft — boats
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. land — ground
  11. wound — an injury
  12. shower — rain
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. band — a ring
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. degree — from a university
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. degree — an amount
  22. craft — a skill
  23. shower — to wash
  24. land — to come down

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