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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pop — music
  8. stem — to come from
  9. season — of the year
  10. pop — soda
  11. land — to come down
  12. field — for sport
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. season — in sport
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. field — farmland
  18. land — a country
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. land — ground
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. pound — a weight

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