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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. field — a subject
  3. pop — music
  4. kick — in football
  5. field — farmland
  6. stem — to come from
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. fork — in a road
  9. field — for sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. key — the most important part
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pop — to visit
  18. clip — to cut
  19. key — in music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. pop — soda
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. clip — for paper

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