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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pop — music
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. rule — government
  7. pop — to visit
  8. key — in music
  9. plane — a tool
  10. rule — a law
  11. hand — help
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. spring — a coil
  14. key — for a lock
  15. key — the most important part
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. pop — soda
  18. spring — the season
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. hand — part of the body

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