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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. current — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. current — electric
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. stem — to come from
  13. pitch — completely
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. chair — a leader
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. current — happening now
  24. cold — an illness

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