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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. clip — to cut
  3. last — to go on
  4. race — humankind
  5. last — finally
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. field — farmland
  8. last — final
  9. field — a subject
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. race — a contest
  14. field — for sport
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. degree — an amount
  17. stem — to come from
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — a video
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. clip — for paper
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. degree — temperature

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