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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — goods
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — tied together
  7. field — for sport
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. field — farmland
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. sharp — clever
  14. stem — to come from
  15. field — a subject
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. bound — obliged
  18. sharp — with an edge

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