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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. drill — army training
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. stand — to bear
  7. field — farmland
  8. chest — of your body
  9. key — the most important part
  10. clip — a video
  11. object — an aim
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. drill — a practice
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stem — to come from
  16. object — a thing
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. key — in music
  20. field — for sport
  21. drill — the tool
  22. key — for a lock
  23. clip — for paper
  24. field — a subject

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