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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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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. squash — to crush
  3. cell — a phone
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cell — in biology
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. lean — to bend
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. field — for sport
  11. season — of the year
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. squash — the sport
  18. lie — to recline
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. lean — thin
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. season — in sport
  24. stem — to come from

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