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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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. field — a subject
  4. mine — for digging
  5. field — farmland
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. stem — to come from
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. scale — in music
  11. field — for sport
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. rule — a law
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — rain
  20. rule — government
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. mine — an explosive

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