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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. pop — music
  3. land — ground
  4. pop — to visit
  5. tear — to rip
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. land — a country
  8. date — the fruit
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. tear — from crying
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pop — soda
  15. stem — to come from
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the sport
  18. fall — to drop
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. land — to come down

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