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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · straw · racket · rash · perch · spell · season · stem

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. stem — to come from
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spell — a short time
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. game — wild animals
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. season — of the year
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. spell — magic
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — a series
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. spell — letters
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. season — in sport

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