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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stand — to bear
  3. row — to paddle
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. date — the fruit
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. row — a line
  22. chest — a box
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. chest — of your body

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