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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tube — the underground
  3. spell — magic
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. spell — a short time
  6. march — music
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. tube — a container
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cell — a phone
  11. race — a contest
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. race — humankind
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — to come from
  21. cell — in biology
  22. race — the arms race
  23. spell — letters
  24. snap — to click

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