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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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. field — farmland
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. stem — to come from
  7. dip — to sink
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spring — a coil
  10. fine — all right
  11. track — a path
  12. track — to keep track
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. rush — hurry
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — the season
  17. track — a song
  18. field — a subject
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fine — high quality
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. field — for sport
  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