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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. tear — from crying
  3. court — for sport
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. court — of a king
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. court — of law
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. tear — to rip
  11. band — a ring
  12. march — the month
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. rush — hurry
  16. tear — from crying
  17. march — the month
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. march — music
  21. rule — a law
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. rule — government
  24. band — a music group

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