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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. squash — the sport
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bat — the animal
  6. club — for dancing
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. club — a group
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. chair — a leader
  11. squash — to crush
  12. track — to keep track
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. club — for golf
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. track — a song
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. stem — to come from
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. track — a path

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