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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. mug — a face
  3. field — farmland
  4. pop — to visit
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. pop — music
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. file — a document
  9. prune — to trim
  10. file — a line of people
  11. field — a subject
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. mug — to rob
  15. mug — a cup
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. pop — soda
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. prune — to trim
  21. file — a tool
  22. stem — to come from
  23. field — for sport
  24. fine — high quality

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