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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. press — a publisher
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. field — farmland
  8. stem — to come from
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. net — for catching
  15. firm — decided
  16. field — for sport
  17. press — newspapers
  18. firm — a company
  19. chest — of your body
  20. press — to push
  21. prune — to trim
  22. field — a subject
  23. firm — steady
  24. prune — the fruit

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