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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. last — to go on
  5. scale — in music
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — size or range
  9. mate — a partner
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. mate — a friend
  12. stem — to come from
  13. last — final
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mate — to breed
  19. last — finally
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. saw — the tool
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. leaves — of a tree

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