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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 120 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. bat — the animal
  4. stem — to come from
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. deal — to handle
  10. squash — the sport
  11. file — a document
  12. ball — a dance
  13. squash — to crush
  14. file — a tool
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. ball — a great time
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. deal — an agreement

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