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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bore — to tire
  3. spell — letters
  4. field — a subject
  5. chip — to eat
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. spell — a short time
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — for sport
  12. spell — magic
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bore — to drill
  20. chip — for betting
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. chip — in a computer

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