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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stem — to come from
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. field — farmland
  6. last — finally
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. snap — to click
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. fork — in a road
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. spell — magic
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. spell — letters
  18. last — final
  19. field — for sport
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spell — a short time
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. last — to go on
  24. lie — an untruth

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