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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. stem — to come from
  3. last — final
  4. land — ground
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. prune — to trim
  7. ball — a great time
  8. pound — a weight
  9. root — of a word
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. last — to go on
  14. root — of a plant
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. land — a country
  18. root — the cause
  19. last — finally
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. ball — a dance
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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