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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · cell · scale · stem · race · wake

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. race — a contest
  6. cell — a phone
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. race — humankind
  12. wake — a trail
  13. scale — in music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. race — the arms race
  18. scale — for weighing

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