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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. spring — of water
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. court — for sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. pass — a permit
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. suit — clothes
  10. court — of law
  11. stem — to come from
  12. drill — a practice
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spring — a coil
  16. squash — the sport
  17. suit — to fit
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. court — of a king
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. drill — army training
  22. suit — in cards
  23. spring — the season
  24. wound — an injury

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