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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. ball — a great time
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — to come from
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. current — happening now
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. current — electric
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. fine — all right
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. scale — size or range
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. fine — high quality
  21. current — of water
  22. shower — to wash
  23. scale — in music
  24. shower — rain

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