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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. pop — music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. mark — a trace
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pop — soda
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. branch — a division
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. foot — a measure
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pop — to visit
  22. cold — an illness
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. mark — to pay attention

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