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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. land — ground
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wound — an injury
  10. prune — to trim
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. land — a country
  13. sharp — clever
  14. wound — an injury
  15. field — a subject
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. field — farmland
  20. prune — to trim
  21. field — for sport
  22. land — to come down
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. tear — from crying

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