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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: hand · ground · fine · stem · rush · row · bat · court

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. court — of a king
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. fine — all right
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fine — high quality
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. court — for sport
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. ground — a position
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. stem — to come from
  18. rush — hurry
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. row — a line
  21. ground — the earth
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ground — crushed
  24. court — of law

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