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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 116 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. spell — a short time
  3. march — the month
  4. net — after costs
  5. march — the month
  6. stem — to come from
  7. march — music
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. saw — the tool
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spell — magic
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. spell — letters
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. hand — help
  21. saw — the tool
  22. hand — in cards
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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