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

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. race — a contest
  4. stem — to come from
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. fall — to drop
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wound — an injury
  10. race — humankind
  11. fall — to drop
  12. wound — an injury
  13. squash — to crush
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fall — the season
  17. prune — to trim
  18. race — the arms race
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. ball — a great time
  23. squash — the sport
  24. stem — of a plant

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