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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. swing — to play on
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wound — an injury
  5. field — farmland
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. swing — in golf
  9. prune — to trim
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fork — in a road
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. stem — to come from
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. field — for sport
  21. swing — music
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. mine — for digging
  24. hide — to keep secret

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