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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. stem — to come from
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. cell — a phone
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pop — music
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bank — for money
  11. pop — to visit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bank — of a river
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pop — soda
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitch — completely
  23. cell — in biology
  24. date — the fruit

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