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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. hand — help
  8. stem — to come from
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — for catching
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. row — a line
  16. rock — a stone
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. hand — in cards
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. mark — a trace
  22. row — to paddle
  23. net — in sport
  24. mark — a grade

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