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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. stem — to come from
  3. present — a gift
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. game — a match
  7. rest — a break
  8. field — for sport
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. present — there
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. capital — money
  14. present — the time now
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. capital — a city
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. field — a subject
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. rest — what's left
  24. game — wild animals

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