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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bulb — for light
  4. file — a document
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. roll — a list
  7. net — in sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. roll — a cake
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. bulb — for light
  13. field — for sport
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. net — after costs
  16. field — farmland
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. net — for catching
  20. stem — to come from
  21. court — for sport
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. court — of law
  24. court — of a king

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