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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. stem — to come from
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. race — humankind
  8. drill — army training
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. dip — to sink
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. drill — a practice
  14. race — the arms race
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. race — a contest
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. prune — to trim
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. prune — to trim

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