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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. fall — to drop
  4. field — a subject
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. shower — to wash
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. shower — rain
  17. field — for sport
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. fall — the season
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. mine — for digging
  22. pound — a weight
  23. field — farmland
  24. fall — to drop

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