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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. net — for catching
  4. shower — rain
  5. stem — to come from
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. net — in sport
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. object — an aim
  11. shower — to wash
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. object — a thing
  15. lie — to recline
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. object — to protest
  24. net — after costs

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