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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chest — of your body
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. row — a line
  9. rule — government
  10. cap — a lid
  11. fine — all right
  12. wake — a trail
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. row — to paddle
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. chest — a box
  19. rule — a law
  20. stem — to come from
  21. fine — high quality
  22. cap — a hat
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. straw — dry grass

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