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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. pop — to visit
  3. game — wild animals
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. stem — to come from
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. pop — soda
  10. last — final
  11. prune — to trim
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. last — to go on
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pop — music
  18. last — finally
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. prune — to trim
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. mate — to breed
  24. ruler — a monarch

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