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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. stem — to come from
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. file — a tool
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. lean — thin
  12. lean — to bend
  13. sharp — clever
  14. file — a line of people
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. prune — to trim
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. file — a document

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