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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. degree — from a university
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. game — a match
  6. march — music
  7. game — wild animals
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. saw — the tool
  11. scale — in music
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. scale — size or range
  16. degree — temperature
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. stand — to bear
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. saw — the tool
  22. stem — to come from
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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