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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 116 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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. stem — to come from
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. root — of a plant
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. root — of a word
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. race — a contest
  13. root — the cause
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cold — not warm
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cold — an illness
  19. race — the arms race
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. race — humankind
  24. straw — a straw man

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