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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. spell — letters
  4. roll — a list
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. squash — to crush
  8. spell — magic
  9. present — a gift
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pass — a permit
  13. present — the time now
  14. cell — a phone
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. spell — a short time
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. present — there
  22. cold — an illness
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. cold — the Cold War

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