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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. spell — magic
  3. stem — to come from
  4. field — a subject
  5. stock — goods
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. game — a match
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bear — the animal
  12. spring — of water
  13. game — wild animals
  14. field — farmland
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spring — the season
  18. stock — shares
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spell — letters
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bulb — for light

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