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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. pop — to visit
  4. perch — the fish
  5. capital — money
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. scale — in music
  14. pop — music
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. fork — in a road
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. pop — soda
  24. kick — in football

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