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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 116 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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. kid — child
  3. bank — for money
  4. cap — of ice
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bank — for money
  10. stem — to come from
  11. bank — of a river
  12. cap — a lid
  13. kid — to tease
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — a subject
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wound — an injury
  20. key — in music
  21. key — the most important part
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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