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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. field — a subject
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. wound — an injury
  6. ball — a great time
  7. stem — to come from
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. ball — a dance
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rest — a break
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. sharp — clever
  19. field — for sport
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rest — what's left
  24. field — farmland

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