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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. land — ground
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — music
  7. rash — a series
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. perch — the fish
  10. field — a subject
  11. land — a country
  12. pop — to visit
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. land — to come down
  16. field — for sport
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. rash — hasty
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. stem — to come from

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