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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. field — a subject
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. field — for sport
  11. bat — the animal
  12. stem — to come from
  13. file — a tool
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. file — a document
  17. date — the fruit
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. march — the month
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. field — farmland
  24. file — a line of people

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