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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. race — the arms race
  4. mine — for digging
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pop — music
  10. game — a match
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stem — to come from
  13. pop — soda
  14. race — humankind
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pop — to visit
  17. game — wild animals
  18. rest — a break
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. file — a document
  23. race — a contest
  24. rest — what's left

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