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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. wind — moving air
  3. march — the month
  4. spell — letters
  5. date — the fruit
  6. race — a contest
  7. swing — to play on
  8. march — the month
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. race — humankind
  13. spell — magic
  14. race — the arms race
  15. march — music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. swing — in golf
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bat — the animal
  20. swing — music
  21. spell — a short time
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wind — moving air

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