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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. stem — to come from
  3. cell — a phone
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pop — to visit
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — magic
  18. bass — the fish
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bear — the animal
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bass — low music
  23. pop — music
  24. cell — in biology

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