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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fall — the season
  3. current — electric
  4. bear — the animal
  5. current — happening now
  6. fall — to drop
  7. file — a tool
  8. stem — to come from
  9. bat — the animal
  10. land — to come down
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bear — the animal
  14. file — a line of people
  15. current — of water
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. land — a country
  21. file — a document
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bat — in an idiom

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