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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. game — a match
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. spring — the season
  16. present — the time now
  17. spring — a coil
  18. stem — to come from
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. present — a gift
  22. spring — of water
  23. field — farmland
  24. stem — of a plant

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