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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. stem — to come from
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. track — a song
  7. wake — a trail
  8. track — to keep track
  9. fine — all right
  10. track — a path
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. fine — high quality
  17. chair — a leader
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. bat — the animal
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. land — a country

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