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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. field — farmland
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. bulb — for light
  5. mark — a trace
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bear — the animal
  9. field — for sport
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. cold — not warm
  13. branch — a division
  14. chest — a box
  15. mark — a grade
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chest — of your body
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. field — a subject
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bear — the animal

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