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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. stem — to come from
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. spell — a short time
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. press — a publisher
  9. spell — magic
  10. saw — the tool
  11. shower — to wash
  12. press — to push
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. rush — hurry
  15. saw — the tool
  16. march — the month
  17. spell — letters
  18. press — newspapers
  19. shower — rain
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. march — the month
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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