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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. last — final
  4. stem — to come from
  5. pass — a permit
  6. last — finally
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bore — to tire
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. spell — letters
  12. race — a contest
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. last — to go on
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the sport
  18. race — humankind
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. spell — magic
  23. bore — to drill
  24. pass — to spend time

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