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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. field — a subject
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — an illness
  9. field — for sport
  10. rule — a law
  11. cap — of ice
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. stem — to come from
  15. chest — a box
  16. rule — government
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. chest — of your body
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — to bear
  21. chest — of your body
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cap — a hat

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