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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: bat · spell · mark · prune · net · stem · game · present

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. spell — magic
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mark — a grade
  6. prune — to trim
  7. present — the time now
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. present — there
  10. game — a match
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. net — after costs
  13. prune — to trim
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. mark — a trace
  17. net — in sport
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. spell — letters
  20. present — a gift
  21. net — for catching
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. spell — a short time
  24. game — wild animals

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