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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. lie — to recline
  4. rock — music
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. band — a music group
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a ring
  13. hand — help
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. tube — a container
  17. spring — a coil
  18. rock — a stone
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. spring — of water
  21. hand — in cards
  22. tube — the underground
  23. spring — the season
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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