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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. content — happy
  4. pop — music
  5. field — a subject
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. field — farmland
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. root — of a plant
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — soda
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. stem — to come from
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. root — of a word
  16. kick — in football
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. field — for sport
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. root — the cause
  24. mouse — 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