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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 116 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. net — after costs
  3. field — farmland
  4. object — to protest
  5. root — the cause
  6. wound — an injury
  7. root — of a plant
  8. net — in sport
  9. object — an aim
  10. content — happy
  11. net — for catching
  12. field — for sport
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. stem — to come from
  16. root — of a word
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. fall — to drop
  22. object — a thing
  23. field — a subject
  24. stem — of a plant

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