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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. stem — to come from
  3. net — in sport
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. swing — to play on
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. swing — in golf
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. stock — goods
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — for catching
  17. field — farmland
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. field — for sport
  20. swing — music
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. hand — help
  23. field — a subject
  24. stock — shares

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