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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. roll — a list
  4. club — for dancing
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. roll — a cake
  8. date — the fruit
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. land — a country
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. club — a group
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. land — ground
  17. game — a match
  18. club — for golf
  19. stem — to come from
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. land — to come down
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. date — on the calendar

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