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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 120 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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. row — a line
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. bear — the animal
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. sharp — clever
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. stem — to come from
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — boats
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. mine — for digging
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. row — to paddle
  23. chest — a box
  24. bear — the animal

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