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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. lean — to bend
  3. saw — the tool
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. saw — the tool
  7. field — for sport
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. field — farmland
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. degree — an amount
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bark — to shout
  19. perch — the fish
  20. field — a subject
  21. stem — to come from
  22. lean — thin
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. lean — to rest against

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