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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ground — a position
  5. bass — low music
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cell — in biology
  8. ground — crushed
  9. squash — the sport
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. squash — to crush
  14. face — to confront
  15. date — the fruit
  16. face — part of the head
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. ground — the earth
  21. stem — to come from
  22. bass — the fish
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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