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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stem — to come from
  3. board — to get on
  4. game — a match
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. field — farmland
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. clip — for paper
  14. branch — a division
  15. board — a committee
  16. clip — to cut
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. game — wild animals
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. clip — a video
  24. board — a flat piece

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