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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. net — in sport
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. current — happening now
  9. file — a line of people
  10. current — of water
  11. net — after costs
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. net — for catching
  14. plane — a tool
  15. spring — a coil
  16. face — to confront
  17. file — a tool
  18. land — a country
  19. file — a document
  20. current — electric
  21. face — part of the head
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. face — to point toward
  24. land — to come down

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