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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. season — in sport
  7. stem — to come from
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rash — a series
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. shower — rain
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mine — for digging
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. perch — the fish
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rash — hasty
  24. season — of the year

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