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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. rule — government
  3. rule — a law
  4. board — a committee
  5. spring — of water
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — to come from
  9. current — happening now
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wound — an injury
  12. present — a gift
  13. spring — a coil
  14. current — of water
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. spring — the season
  20. board — to get on
  21. chest — a box
  22. present — the time now
  23. current — electric
  24. wound — an injury

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