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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. tear — from crying
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. perch — the fish
  7. wound — an injury
  8. ball — a great time
  9. dip — to sink
  10. spell — a short time
  11. tear — to rip
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. spell — letters
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — an injury
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — to come from
  21. spell — magic
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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