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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wake — a trail
  3. saw — the tool
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. pop — to visit
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. mine — for digging
  13. last — finally
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. branch — a division
  17. last — to go on
  18. pop — music
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. bear — the animal
  22. pop — soda
  23. bear — the animal
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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