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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. spring — the season
  3. game — a match
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. game — wild animals
  6. ground — the earth
  7. pass — a permit
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. sharp — clever
  13. squash — the sport
  14. ground — a position
  15. spring — a coil
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. stem — to come from
  18. ground — crushed
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. spring — of water
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. squash — to crush

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