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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. game — a match
  5. fork — in a road
  6. drill — the tool
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. press — a publisher
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mine — for digging
  14. march — the month
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. march — the month
  17. drill — army training
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. drill — a practice
  20. press — to push
  21. march — music
  22. stem — to come from
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rush — hurry

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