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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pit — in a race
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. spring — the season
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pit — a hole
  7. race — the arms race
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. mate — a partner
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mate — a friend
  17. race — a contest
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. band — a ring
  21. mate — to breed
  22. band — a music group
  23. race — humankind
  24. wound — an injury

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