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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. march — music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. stem — to come from
  6. staff — a stick
  7. toast — bread
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. degree — an amount
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. march — the month
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. degree — temperature
  15. game — wild animals
  16. saw — the tool
  17. game — a match
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. march — the month
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. degree — from a university
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. saw — the tool

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