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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. field — farmland
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wake — a trail
  6. game — a match
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. rash — hasty
  10. game — wild animals
  11. field — for sport
  12. season — of the year
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. perch — the fish
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. season — in sport
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. rash — a series
  21. pitch — completely
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. field — a subject

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