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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. charge — electricity
  3. charge — in control
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mine — for digging
  7. stem — to come from
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. charge — a price
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. dip — to sink
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. prune — to trim
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stem — a stem cell

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