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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 120 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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. chest — a box
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. mine — for digging
  10. chest — of your body
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. stem — to come from
  13. current — of water
  14. current — electric
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cold — not warm
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. current — happening now
  24. chest — of your 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