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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 124 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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. object — to protest
  4. spell — letters
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. spell — a short time
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chest — of your body
  13. field — farmland
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — a city
  17. object — an aim
  18. chest — a box
  19. field — a subject
  20. capital — money
  21. bear — the animal
  22. stem — to come from
  23. spell — magic
  24. field — for sport

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