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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 words: he'll be late again.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mark — a grade
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. mark — a trace
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. game — a match
  15. stem — to come from
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. rush — hurry
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ground — a position
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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