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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. march — the month
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. ball — a great time
  6. rule — government
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — farmland
  9. rule — a law
  10. deal — to handle
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ball — a dance
  16. field — for sport
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. march — the month
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. march — music
  22. stem — to come from
  23. cold — an illness
  24. stem — of a plant

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