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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. rush — hurry
  3. stem — to come from
  4. rest — a break
  5. row — a line
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. dip — to sink
  12. row — to paddle
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. rest — what's left
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. spring — the season
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rest — what's left
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. fork — in a road

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