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

Word bank: chair · cell · stem · pound · bear · fine · shower · key

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cell — a phone
  4. key — the most important part
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. fine — all right
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cell — in biology
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. stem — to come from
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bear — the animal
  21. key — in music
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. pound — a weight
  24. shower — rain

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