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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. stem — to come from
  3. field — for sport
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. cold — an illness
  6. field — farmland
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. face — to point toward
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. pound — a weight
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. race — the arms race
  14. face — to confront
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. court — for sport
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. court — of law
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. field — a subject
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cold — not warm
  23. face — part of the head
  24. court — of a king

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