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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. current — electric
  3. stem — to come from
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. current — happening now
  6. mine — for digging
  7. spell — magic
  8. cell — in biology
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. field — farmland
  13. current — of water
  14. spell — a short time
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. file — a tool
  19. spell — letters
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. nail — for a hammer

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