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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 116 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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. prune — to trim
  3. stem — to come from
  4. cue — a hint
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. land — ground
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. pit — in a race
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. object — a thing
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pit — a hole
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cue — a signal
  16. land — a country
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — an illness
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. object — to protest
  22. object — an aim
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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