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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. land — ground
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. field — for sport
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. dip — to sink
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. can — to be able to
  11. field — farmland
  12. land — to come down
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. field — a subject
  18. land — a country
  19. season — in sport
  20. can — a tin
  21. stem — to come from
  22. can — a tin
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. stem — a stem cell

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