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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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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. march — the month
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — in football
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. game — wild animals
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. land — a country
  12. game — a match
  13. march — the month
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. march — music
  17. land — ground
  18. racket — for tennis

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