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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. lean — to bend
  3. field — for sport
  4. staff — employees
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. capital — money
  8. stem — to come from
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. lean — thin
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. capital — a city
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. dip — to sink
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. staff — a stick
  20. staff — employees
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. net — after costs

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