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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. last — finally
  3. stem — to come from
  4. track — a song
  5. last — final
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. last — to go on
  9. pop — soda
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. bat — the animal
  12. prune — to trim
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — to visit
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. tear — to rip
  23. track — to keep track
  24. stem — of a plant

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