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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. rest — a break
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. band — a ring
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — a group
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. band — a music group
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. club — for golf
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. club — for dancing
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rest — what's left
  18. prune — to trim
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. fork — in a road
  24. ruler — for measuring

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