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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 120 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. stem — to come from
  4. spring — the season
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chair — a leader
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — for digging
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tear — to rip
  13. fine — all right
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. field — farmland
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. fine — high quality
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. spring — of water
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. field — a subject
  24. chair — a professorship

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