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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. stem — to come from
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. press — a publisher
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cap — a lid
  10. land — a country
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. hand — help
  14. cap — of ice
  15. land — to come down
  16. hand — in cards
  17. press — to push
  18. field — a subject
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wake — a trail
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. degree — from a university
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. land — ground

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