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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. cap — a lid
  3. race — the arms race
  4. present — the time now
  5. cap — of ice
  6. prune — to trim
  7. present — there
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. stem — to come from
  10. prune — to trim
  11. last — to go on
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — a phone
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. race — a contest
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. degree — an amount
  20. race — humankind
  21. cap — a hat
  22. degree — from a university
  23. last — finally
  24. last — final

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