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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stem — to come from
  5. hand — help
  6. degree — from a university
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. chest — of your body
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rush — hurry
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. stem — a stem cell

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