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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. field — for sport
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. stem — to come from
  4. chip — to eat
  5. sharp — clever
  6. object — a thing
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. object — to protest
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chip — for betting
  11. hand — help
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. field — farmland
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — a trail
  21. field — a subject
  22. object — an aim
  23. hand — part of the body
  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