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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. stem — to come from
  3. game — a match
  4. last — final
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. root — of a word
  7. season — of the year
  8. game — wild animals
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — for sport
  11. firm — steady
  12. root — of a plant
  13. last — finally
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. root — the cause
  16. firm — a company
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. last — to go on
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. field — farmland
  21. firm — decided
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. field — a subject

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