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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. field — farmland
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. fork — in a road
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cold — not warm
  10. clip — for paper
  11. net — for catching
  12. lean — to bend
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lean — thin
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — for sport
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. field — a subject
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. net — in sport
  23. stem — to come from
  24. clip — a video

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