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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. ball — a great time
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. wind — moving air
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cap — of ice
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. cap — a lid
  13. stem — to come from
  14. field — farmland
  15. mine — for digging
  16. ball — a dance
  17. tear — to rip
  18. field — a subject
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. cap — a hat
  21. row — a line
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. wind — moving air

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