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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. content — the amount
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. field — farmland
  5. content — happy
  6. craft — boats
  7. staff — employees
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. staff — a stick
  12. foot — a measure
  13. staff — employees
  14. stem — to come from
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. clip — for paper
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. clip — a video
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. clip — to cut
  24. craft — a skill

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