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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. roll — a list
  4. track — to keep track
  5. stem — to come from
  6. fall — to drop
  7. object — a thing
  8. fall — the season
  9. swing — music
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. spring — a coil
  14. roll — a cake
  15. object — an aim
  16. fall — to drop
  17. swing — to play on
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. swing — in golf
  20. spring — of water
  21. track — a song
  22. spring — the season
  23. track — a path
  24. stem — of a plant

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