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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. swing — to play on
  4. last — to go on
  5. swing — music
  6. last — final
  7. land — a country
  8. spell — letters
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. swing — in golf
  11. court — for sport
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. mark — a trace
  19. court — of law
  20. mark — a grade
  21. last — finally
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. court — of a king

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