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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. bat — the animal
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bank — for money
  7. hand — help
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. row — a line
  10. bank — for money
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hand — in cards
  16. stem — to come from
  17. row — to paddle
  18. spring — the season
  19. field — for sport
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. spring — of water
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — a subject

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