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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 120 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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. saw — the tool
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. ball — a dance
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mate — a partner
  7. saw — the tool
  8. stem — to come from
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. degree — from a university
  11. ball — a great time
  12. degree — an amount
  13. ground — a position
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — crushed
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mate — a friend
  24. stem — of a plant

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