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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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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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. field — a subject
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. field — farmland
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. capital — a city
  9. mark — a grade
  10. lean — to bend
  11. field — for sport
  12. stem — to come from
  13. lean — thin
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. kid — child
  17. capital — money
  18. stem — a stem cell

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