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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. chip — to eat
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. field — for sport
  5. land — ground
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. stem — to come from
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cold — not warm
  13. land — a country
  14. cold — an illness
  15. field — farmland
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. field — a subject
  23. chip — for betting
  24. pitch — completely

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