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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: cell · stem · straw · press · bulb · mine · tear · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — humankind
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bulb — for light
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — newspapers
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. cell — in biology
  12. stem — to come from
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. press — to push
  15. tear — to rip
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bulb — for light
  21. mine — for digging
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. tear — from crying

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