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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. row — a line
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pass — a permit
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. game — wild animals
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. scale — in music
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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