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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. object — to protest
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. object — an aim
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. chip — for betting
  8. object — a thing
  9. staff — a stick
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. march — the month
  14. staff — employees
  15. chip — to eat
  16. march — the month
  17. pop — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pop — soda
  22. mine — for digging
  23. march — music
  24. pop — to visit

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