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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. spell — a short time
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. foot — a measure
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a match
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. spell — magic
  13. field — for sport
  14. tear — to rip
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. field — farmland
  23. net — for catching
  24. spell — letters

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