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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. spell — magic
  3. field — farmland
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. firm — steady
  6. spell — a short time
  7. bark — to shout
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. field — for sport
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. field — a subject
  16. spell — letters
  17. game — a match
  18. stem — to come from
  19. firm — a company
  20. game — wild animals
  21. firm — decided
  22. wax — to grow
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. wax — in the ear

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