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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. band — a ring
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. land — ground
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. ground — the earth
  9. stem — to come from
  10. ground — a position
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ground — crushed
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. land — a country
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. rock — a stone
  21. land — to come down
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chair — a leader
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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