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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  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. field — for sport
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wound — an injury
  4. can — a tin
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. cold — not warm
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. field — a subject
  14. wound — an injury
  15. vault — a safe
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. can — to be able to
  18. can — a tin
  19. stem — to come from
  20. field — farmland
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. dip — to sink
  23. stem — of a plant
  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