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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — wild animals
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. cue — a hint
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. rush — hurry
  10. net — after costs
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. cue — a signal
  14. kid — child
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. prune — to trim
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mine — for digging
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. game — a match
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. cue — for pool

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