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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cold — not warm
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. suit — in cards
  9. suit — to fit
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. suit — clothes
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. plane — a tool
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — an illness
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. straw — dry grass

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