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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. field — a subject
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. drill — a practice
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. plane — a tool
  8. field — farmland
  9. stem — to come from
  10. drill — army training
  11. shower — rain
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bark — to shout
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. field — for sport
  19. swing — in golf
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. drill — the tool
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  24. bat — the animal

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