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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. pop — to visit
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. ball — a great time
  9. pop — soda
  10. fall — to drop
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. pop — music
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. fall — the season
  23. game — a match
  24. stem — a stem cell

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