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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — a line
  6. prune — to trim
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. object — an aim
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. prune — to trim
  13. dip — to sink
  14. scale — size or range
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mine — for digging
  19. chip — to eat
  20. scale — in music
  21. chip — for betting
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — to come from

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