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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. tube — the underground
  7. dip — to sink
  8. wind — moving air
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. field — farmland
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. field — for sport
  16. object — to protest
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. wind — moving air
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. object — a thing
  21. tube — a container
  22. object — an aim
  23. field — a subject
  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