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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. land — to come down
  3. spring — a coil
  4. shower — to wash
  5. squash — to crush
  6. spring — the season
  7. stem — to come from
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. squash — the sport
  11. capital — a city
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. spring — of water
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. land — a country
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. shower — rain
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  24. land — ground

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