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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · face · row · sharp · clip · field · mine · bulb

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — for light
  5. row — to paddle
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. face — to confront
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. stem — to come from
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. row — a line
  16. face — part of the head
  17. clip — for paper
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. sharp — clever
  24. field — for sport

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