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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. season — of the year
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — in sport
  7. track — a song
  8. saw — the tool
  9. track — to keep track
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. drill — the tool
  12. lie — to recline
  13. saw — the tool
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. field — farmland
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. field — a subject
  23. track — a path
  24. drill — army training

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