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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pop — music
  3. file — a document
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pop — soda
  6. file — a tool
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. chest — of your body
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spring — the season
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. pop — to visit
  16. chest — a box
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. wake — a trail
  19. spring — of water
  20. file — a line of people
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. stem — a stem cell

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