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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 116 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. current — electric
  4. cold — an illness
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a line of people
  7. field — farmland
  8. march — the month
  9. file — a tool
  10. current — happening now
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rock — music
  13. stem — to come from
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — not warm
  17. current — of water
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. field — for sport
  20. march — the month
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. march — music
  23. rock — a stone
  24. rock — to move gently

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