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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. stem — to come from
  4. field — a subject
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bass — the fish
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — government
  11. spring — the season
  12. rush — hurry
  13. spring — of water
  14. field — for sport
  15. file — a tool
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bass — low music
  20. field — farmland
  21. file — a document
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. file — a line of people
  24. pound — a weight

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