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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. pop — music
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. spell — magic
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. branch — a division
  15. pop — soda
  16. spell — a short time
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. field — a subject
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. mine — for digging
  21. spell — letters
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pop — to visit

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