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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. wound — an injury
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. mark — a trace
  5. wound — an injury
  6. foot — a measure
  7. tear — to rip
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stem — to come from
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mark — a grade
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. ball — a great time
  18. game — a match
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. ball — a dance
  21. tear — from crying
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. degree — an amount
  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