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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. spring — a coil
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fine — high quality
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. clip — a video
  8. spring — the season
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. field — a subject
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. field — for sport
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. ground — crushed
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fine — all right
  19. spring — of water
  20. ground — the earth
  21. field — farmland
  22. stem — to come from
  23. ground — a position
  24. safe — a strongbox

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