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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ground · game · stem · spring · tear · mate · mug · land

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mate — to breed
  4. ground — crushed
  5. land — a country
  6. mug — to rob
  7. tear — to rip
  8. mate — a friend
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — to come down
  13. tear — from crying
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. mug — a face
  16. land — ground
  17. spring — the season
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. mate — a partner
  20. tear — from crying
  21. game — wild animals
  22. stem — to come from
  23. game — a match
  24. spring — of water

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