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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. stem — to come from
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a city
  6. chest — a box
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. key — for a lock
  9. mine — for digging
  10. shower — rain
  11. bulb — for light
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bulb — for light
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. chest — of your body
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. key — the most important part
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. capital — money
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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