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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 116 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. scale — size or range
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. row — a line
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. plane — a tool
  8. present — a gift
  9. row — to paddle
  10. stem — to come from
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. present — the time now
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — in music
  16. field — for sport
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. present — there
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. march — the month

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