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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. band — a music group
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. cell — a phone
  11. stem — to come from
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wind — moving air
  14. band — a ring
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. field — a subject
  18. roll — a cake
  19. wind — moving air
  20. roll — a list
  21. field — farmland
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wound — an injury
  24. field — for sport

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