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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 120 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. rush — hurry
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. swing — to play on
  6. mate — a partner
  7. bulb — for light
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. game — a match
  10. swing — in golf
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. game — wild animals
  17. mate — a friend
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. swing — music
  22. stem — to come from
  23. mate — to breed
  24. bat — the animal

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