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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 ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. ground — crushed
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. spring — the season
  7. sharp — clever
  8. stem — to come from
  9. squash — the sport
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. date — the fruit
  13. swing — in golf
  14. vault — a safe
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. swing — to play on
  17. spring — of water
  18. squash — to crush
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. swing — music
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. spring — a coil
  24. stem — a stem cell

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