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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. stem — to come from
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. mug — a face
  10. cell — in biology
  11. field — farmland
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. file — a line of people
  14. field — a subject
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mug — a cup
  18. field — for sport
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. cell — a phone

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