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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 116 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. object — to protest
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fork — in a road
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. race — humankind
  8. stem — to come from
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. game — a match
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. object — a thing
  18. pass — a permit
  19. ground — a position
  20. object — an aim
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. game — a kind of play

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