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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. season — in sport
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. court — for sport
  5. roll — a list
  6. game — a match
  7. court — of law
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. game — wild animals
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. season — of the year
  18. roll — a cake
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. court — of a king
  21. fork — in a road
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. trunk — of a tree

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