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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. wound — an injury
  3. track — a song
  4. stem — to come from
  5. file — a tool
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. season — in sport
  9. track — a path
  10. last — finally
  11. file — a document
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. last — to go on
  14. file — a line of people
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. fine — all right
  17. last — final
  18. fine — high quality
  19. track — to keep track
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. season — of the year
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stem — a stem cell

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