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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a line
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. hand — in cards
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stem — to come from
  24. mine — for digging

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