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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. court — of law
  3. branch — a division
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ground — crushed
  9. chest — of your body
  10. lean — thin
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. chest — of your body
  13. ground — a position
  14. court — of a king
  15. chest — a box
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. court — for sport
  18. lean — to bend
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. toast — bread
  21. stem — to come from
  22. ball — a dance
  23. branch — of a tree
  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