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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. firm — steady
  3. perch — the fish
  4. track — a song
  5. stem — to come from
  6. track — to keep track
  7. pitch — completely
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. file — a tool
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. track — a path
  13. spring — the season
  14. firm — decided
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. court — of law
  19. file — a line of people
  20. firm — a company
  21. file — a document
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. spring — a coil

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