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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 120 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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. object — a thing
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. object — to protest
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. cell — a phone
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. field — a subject
  12. cap — a lid
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. object — an aim
  18. rash — a series
  19. cell — in biology
  20. stem — to come from
  21. rash — hasty
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. face — part of the head

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