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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. court — of a king
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. field — a subject
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. field — for sport
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mine — for digging
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of law
  14. stem — to come from
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. spring — of water
  20. kick — in football
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. spring — the season
  23. field — farmland
  24. kick — with a leg

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