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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. stem — to come from
  3. prune — to trim
  4. chip — to eat
  5. net — for catching
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. stock — goods
  8. net — in sport
  9. court — of law
  10. pop — to visit
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. net — after costs
  15. court — for sport
  16. prune — to trim
  17. chip — for betting
  18. stock — shares
  19. court — of a king
  20. spring — of water
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. spring — the season
  23. pop — soda
  24. spring — a coil

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