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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stem — to come from
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a music group
  8. present — a gift
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rush — hurry
  11. last — to go on
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. band — a ring
  20. present — the time now
  21. last — final
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. last — finally

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