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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. court — for sport
  3. last — final
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. tear — from crying
  6. court — of law
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. last — to go on
  9. land — to come down
  10. track — a path
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. stem — to come from
  14. court — of a king
  15. track — to keep track
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. track — a song
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. land — a country
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. land — ground
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. tear — to rip

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