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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. present — a gift
  3. ground — a position
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. ground — the earth
  6. present — the time now
  7. pop — music
  8. court — of law
  9. court — of a king
  10. ground — crushed
  11. rash — a series
  12. pop — to visit
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. pop — soda
  15. present — there
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. court — for sport
  18. game — wild animals
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. stem — to come from
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. game — a match
  24. game — a kind of play

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