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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 I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. net — after costs
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mark — a trace
  9. net — in sport
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. shower — to wash
  12. last — finally
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. last — final
  15. degree — temperature
  16. net — for catching
  17. degree — an amount
  18. last — to go on
  19. mark — a grade
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. degree — from a university
  22. shower — rain
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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