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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. stem — to come from
  4. field — a subject
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cold — not warm
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. field — farmland
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. field — for sport
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. kick — in football
  16. content — happy
  17. cap — a hat
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cap — a lid
  21. content — the amount
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. squash — the sport
  24. kick — with a leg

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