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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — final
  5. mark — a grade
  6. swing — in golf
  7. pop — music
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. spell — magic
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — to visit
  12. swing — to play on
  13. last — finally
  14. spell — letters
  15. mark — a trace
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. rule — government
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. rule — a law
  21. spell — a short time
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. swing — music
  24. rule — to rule out

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