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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — to visit
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pop — music
  7. object — to protest
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. spell — magic
  10. row — a line
  11. stem — to come from
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — letters
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — to paddle
  18. object — an aim
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. dip — to sink
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. stem — of a plant

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