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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. field — farmland
  3. current — happening now
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. stem — to come from
  7. spring — the season
  8. field — a subject
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cell — in biology
  11. spring — of water
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bound — certain
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. field — for sport
  21. perch — the fish
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cell — a phone
  24. bound — tied together

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