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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. spell — a short time
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. board — a committee
  8. stock — shares
  9. bound — obliged
  10. spell — magic
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bat — the animal
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. bound — certain
  17. stock — goods
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. spell — letters
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. stem — to come from
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. board — to get on

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