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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. squash — to crush
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. cell — a phone
  6. capital — money
  7. file — a tool
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. plane — a tool
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. stem — to come from
  13. file — a document
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cell — in biology
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wake — a trail
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — a match
  22. capital — a city
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. game — wild animals

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