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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. scale — in music
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. pit — a hole
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. scale — size or range
  15. band — a music group
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. band — a ring
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stem — to come from
  24. band — a rubber band

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