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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 116 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: stem · wake · prune · ground · rash · court · net · fan

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. court — for sport
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. net — in sport
  5. court — of law
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rash — hasty
  9. ground — a position
  10. prune — to trim
  11. ground — the earth
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. ground — crushed
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. net — for catching
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. net — after costs
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. stem — to come from
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. court — of a king
  23. wake — a trail
  24. stem — of a plant

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