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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. last — finally
  3. degree — from a university
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. staff — employees
  6. last — final
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. stem — to come from
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. game — a match
  14. pass — a permit
  15. last — to go on
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — a stick
  18. game — wild animals
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. march — the month

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