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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. row — a line
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. mark — a trace
  7. field — a subject
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. field — for sport
  13. clip — for paper
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. track — a song
  18. field — farmland
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. stem — to come from
  21. track — to keep track
  22. row — to paddle
  23. track — a path
  24. clip — a video

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