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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bear — the animal
  4. spring — the season
  5. race — a contest
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. object — to protest
  8. spring — a coil
  9. race — the arms race
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. object — a thing
  12. object — an aim
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bear — the animal
  21. race — humankind
  22. spring — of water
  23. dip — to sink
  24. plane — a tool

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