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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. kid — child
  3. tear — to rip
  4. spring — the season
  5. charge — electricity
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — to come from
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spring — of water
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. file — a document
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. kid — to tease
  16. present — a gift
  17. file — a tool
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. spring — a coil
  20. deal — to handle
  21. present — there
  22. charge — a price
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. charge — in control

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