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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. ball — a great time
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. last — final
  5. chest — of your body
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. chest — of your body
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. vault — a safe
  10. shower — rain
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. last — finally
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. chest — a box
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. last — to go on
  22. stem — to come from
  23. band — a music group
  24. shower — to wash

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