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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stem — to come from
  4. board — a committee
  5. key — for a lock
  6. key — in music
  7. game — a match
  8. clip — for paper
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. board — to get on
  13. tube — a container
  14. clip — a video
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. rest — what's left
  17. clip — to cut
  18. rest — a break
  19. field — a subject
  20. rest — what's left
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. key — the most important part
  24. game — wild animals

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