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

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. pop — music
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. prune — to trim
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — to come from
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pop — to visit
  10. root — of a plant
  11. root — the cause
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a list
  14. prune — to trim
  15. root — of a word
  16. roll — a cake
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. pop — soda

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