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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. stem — to come from
  4. land — to come down
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. pop — soda
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — completely
  11. cold — not warm
  12. land — ground
  13. mate — to breed
  14. object — to protest
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. object — a thing
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. land — a country
  20. pop — music
  21. mate — a partner
  22. object — an aim
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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