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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. field — a subject
  3. stem — to come from
  4. craft — boats
  5. clip — for paper
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. capital — a city
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. craft — a skill
  14. clip — a video
  15. roll — a cake
  16. field — for sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — money
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — farmland
  22. clip — to cut
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. roll — a list

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