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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stem — to come from
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. net — for catching
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. net — in sport
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cold — an illness
  17. band — a music group
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. wax — to grow
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. band — a ring
  23. net — after costs
  24. pitch — completely

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