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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. ground — crushed
  2. band — a music group
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. roll — a cake
  5. roll — a list
  6. spring — a coil
  7. game — a match
  8. ground — a position
  9. stem — to come from
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. game — wild animals
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. spring — the season
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. spring — of water
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. ground — the earth
  20. band — a ring
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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