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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. field — for sport
  4. present — there
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bark — to shout
  8. present — the time now
  9. net — for catching
  10. present — a gift
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. kick — in football
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. field — farmland
  18. net — after costs
  19. net — in sport
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. field — a subject
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. stem — of a plant

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