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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 120 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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. field — farmland
  4. drill — a practice
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. row — a line
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. drill — army training
  10. lie — to recline
  11. net — after costs
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cap — a lid
  14. field — a subject
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. drill — the tool
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. cap — of ice
  20. field — for sport
  21. cap — a hat
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. net — in sport

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