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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pit — in a race
  4. fine — all right
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. stem — to come from
  10. spring — the season
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spring — of water
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pit — a hole
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hide — to keep secret

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