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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spring — a coil
  6. kick — in football
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. band — a ring
  11. stem — to come from
  12. file — a document
  13. rest — a break
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. field — for sport
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. rest — what's left
  20. file — a tool
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. file — a line of people
  23. band — a music group
  24. pitch — completely

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