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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. field — farmland
  4. stem — to come from
  5. toast — bread
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. date — the fruit
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. rush — hurry
  10. bat — the animal
  11. land — to come down
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. land — a country
  17. face — part of the head
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. face — to point toward
  23. land — ground
  24. face — to confront

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