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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 120 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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. band — a music group
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. stem — to come from
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. band — a ring
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. spring — the season
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. march — the month
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. march — music
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. march — the month

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