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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. season — in sport
  3. stem — to come from
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. season — of the year
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. wind — moving air
  10. row — to paddle
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. pound — a weight
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. wind — moving air
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. stem — of a plant

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