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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. firm — steady
  3. date — the fruit
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pop — soda
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — music
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. roll — a list
  16. firm — a company
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. chest — a box
  19. stem — to come from
  20. firm — decided
  21. spring — of water
  22. roll — a cake
  23. spring — the season
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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