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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: game · content · stem · pass · nail · net · pitcher · last

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. stem — to come from
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. last — final
  5. net — in sport
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. last — finally
  8. net — after costs
  9. game — a match
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. net — for catching
  12. game — wild animals
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. pass — a permit
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. content — the amount

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