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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. lie — to recline
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. fine — all right
  6. scale — in music
  7. stem — to come from
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. degree — from a university
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. degree — an amount
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. scale — size or range
  16. pitch — completely
  17. degree — temperature
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. band — a ring
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. band — a music group

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