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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 124 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. stem — to come from
  5. spring — the season
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. present — there
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. band — a ring
  10. present — a gift
  11. spring — of water
  12. land — to come down
  13. spring — a coil
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. land — ground
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. land — a country
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. wake — a trail
  21. band — a music group
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. bowl — a football final

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