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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. last — to go on
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. wake — a trail
  7. spell — magic
  8. kid — child
  9. last — finally
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. spell — a short time
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. spell — letters
  17. branch — a division
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. last — final
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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