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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. spring — of water
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. last — finally
  8. spring — a coil
  9. rule — a law
  10. last — to go on
  11. tear — from crying
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. tear — from crying
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. spring — the season
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rash — a series
  21. snap — to click
  22. rule — government
  23. last — final
  24. stem — to come from

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