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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. stem — to come from
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. court — for sport
  6. ground — crushed
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. shower — rain
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. ground — a position
  11. chip — for betting
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. chip — to eat
  20. lean — to bend
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. shower — to wash
  23. ground — the earth
  24. chip — in a computer

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