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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bound — certain
  5. degree — an amount
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bound — obliged
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. snap — to click
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. degree — from a university
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. rash — a series
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. rash — hasty
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spring — a coil
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. degree — temperature

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