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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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Word bank
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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: race · pitcher · stem · date · court · pound · wound · fan

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  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. stem — of a plant
  2. stem — to come from
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. date — the fruit
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pound — a weight
  10. court — of a king
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. race — humankind
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. court — for sport
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. court — of law
  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