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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 slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — to confront
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. face — part of the head
  7. lean — thin
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — to breed
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. stem — to come from
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. field — farmland
  15. chair — a leader
  16. cell — a phone
  17. season — in sport
  18. mate — a friend
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. cell — in biology
  24. season — of the year

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