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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. shower — to wash
  3. spring — of water
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — certain
  8. spell — letters
  9. mate — a partner
  10. ground — crushed
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. spell — a short time
  13. ground — the earth
  14. mate — to breed
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. bound — tied together
  20. mate — a friend
  21. shower — rain
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — the season
  24. spell — magic

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