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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bore — to tire
  3. suit — in cards
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. suit — clothes
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stem — to come from
  9. track — to keep track
  10. mate — to breed
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. mate — a friend
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. suit — to fit
  18. pop — soda
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. bore — to drill
  24. pop — music

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