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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. squash — to crush
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wake — a trail
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — the sport
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. pit — a hole
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spring — the season
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. branch — a division
  18. stem — to come from
  19. spring — of water
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pit — in a race
  22. kick — in football
  23. spring — a coil
  24. stem — of a plant

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