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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. ground — the earth
  3. stem — to come from
  4. shower — rain
  5. press — a publisher
  6. rock — music
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. press — newspapers
  12. spring — the season
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. spring — a coil
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cell — in biology
  19. rock — a stone
  20. tear — from crying
  21. press — to push
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. spring — of water

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