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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. file — a line of people
  3. club — for golf
  4. file — a document
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. field — farmland
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cell — in biology
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bear — the animal
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — for sport
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bear — the animal
  18. march — the month
  19. file — a tool
  20. club — a group
  21. club — for dancing
  22. march — the month
  23. cell — a phone
  24. stem — to come from

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