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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. mate — a friend
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. tear — from crying
  6. current — happening now
  7. hand — help
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. land — a country
  10. saw — the tool
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. mate — to breed
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mate — a partner
  16. current — electric
  17. stem — to come from
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. current — of water
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. land — ground
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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