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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. net — for catching
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bass — low music
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. net — after costs
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. net — in sport
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. shower — rain
  18. cold — an illness
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bass — the fish
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. racket — for tennis

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