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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. current — electric
  10. current — happening now
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mark — a grade
  13. last — to go on
  14. sharp — clever
  15. court — of law
  16. current — of water
  17. last — final
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. last — finally
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. court — for sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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