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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. spring — the season
  4. staff — employees
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. stem — to come from
  7. last — finally
  8. staff — employees
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. shower — to wash
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — in a road
  13. spring — of water
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. spring — a coil
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. last — final
  22. saw — the tool
  23. last — to go on
  24. staff — a stick

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