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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. cold — an illness
  6. march — music
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a song
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. march — the month
  14. content — happy
  15. prune — to trim
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. track — a path
  19. content — the amount
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. march — the month
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stem — to come from

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