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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 120 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: mate · shower · bay · key · squash · stem · ground · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — crushed
  3. key — in music
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. key — the most important part
  7. key — for a lock
  8. shower — rain
  9. mate — a partner
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. mate — to breed
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. mate — a friend
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. squash — to crush
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. shower — to wash

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