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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. stem — to come from
  3. spring — the season
  4. rest — what's left
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. plane — a tool
  8. land — a country
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. track — to keep track
  12. branch — a division
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. spring — of water
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. land — to come down
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. rest — a break
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. spring — a coil
  23. land — ground
  24. court — of law

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