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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 120 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. court — of law
  6. court — of a king
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. mine — for digging
  9. court — for sport
  10. object — to protest
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. object — a thing
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. object — an aim
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. stem — of a plant

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