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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 124 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 spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. field — a subject
  3. stem — to come from
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fine — high quality
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. chair — a leader
  11. field — for sport
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. fine — all right
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — farmland
  17. cold — an illness
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. prune — to trim
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. fine — a penalty

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