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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. spring — the season
  4. land — to come down
  5. spring — a coil
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — a tin
  10. cold — an illness
  11. track — to keep track
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. track — a path
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stem — to come from
  16. track — a song
  17. staff — employees
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. staff — a stick
  21. can — to be able to
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. spring — of water

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