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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. stem — to come from
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. game — wild animals
  6. last — to go on
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. branch — a division
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. game — a match
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. last — finally
  18. last — final
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. ground — a position
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. trunk — of a tree

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