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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spell — a short time
  5. stem — to come from
  6. dip — to sink
  7. spell — letters
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. lie — to recline
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spell — magic
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. field — a subject
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. field — farmland
  24. nail — on a finger

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