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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. mate — a partner
  4. object — a thing
  5. last — finally
  6. mate — a friend
  7. last — final
  8. object — an aim
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. object — to protest
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. pitch — completely
  19. degree — temperature
  20. stem — to come from
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mate — to breed
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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