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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. court — of law
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. ground — crushed
  5. shower — rain
  6. net — for catching
  7. stem — to come from
  8. court — of a king
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spring — a coil
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. field — a subject
  14. net — in sport
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. court — for sport
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. field — for sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. net — after costs
  24. foot — a measure

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