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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. stem — to come from
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rule — government
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. ground — crushed
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. ground — a position
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. ground — the earth
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. rule — a law
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wave — of the sea

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