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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. march — music
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. field — for sport
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — to come from
  8. march — the month
  9. ball — a great time
  10. spring — of water
  11. mine — for digging
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. march — the month
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. spring — the season
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. field — a subject
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. field — farmland

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