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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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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: wound · cue · mine · stem · scale · spell · court · board

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. court — for sport
  4. spell — magic
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. cue — a signal
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — in music
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. court — of a king
  14. spell — a short time
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a hint
  19. board — to get on
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. spell — letters
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stem — to come from

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