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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. spell — letters
  3. face — part of the head
  4. court — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — to come from
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. face — to point toward
  12. court — of law
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ground — the earth
  19. face — to confront
  20. court — of a king
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. ground — crushed
  23. date — the fruit
  24. ground — a position

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