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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 116 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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468
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: fall · stem · game · straw · hide · mine · hand · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. mine — for digging
  11. hand — in cards
  12. stem — to come from
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. game — wild animals
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. game — a match
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pit — in a race
  20. hand — help
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pit — a hole

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