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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cell — a phone
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. pop — soda
  6. wax — to grow
  7. pass — a permit
  8. stem — to come from
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. field — farmland
  11. pop — to visit
  12. row — to paddle
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. cell — in biology
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. field — for sport
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. perch — the fish
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. row — a line
  23. pop — music
  24. wax — in the ear

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