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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. face — to confront
  3. field — for sport
  4. face — to point toward
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — a trail
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. field — farmland
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. file — a document
  12. field — a subject
  13. stem — to come from
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. file — a line of people
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. branch — a division
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. face — part of the head
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. file — a tool
  24. stem — a stem cell

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