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

Word bank: bear · plane · stem · tear · cell · swing · field · spell

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cell — in biology
  4. stem — to come from
  5. tear — to rip
  6. swing — to play on
  7. spell — magic
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. spell — a short time
  11. field — for sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bear — the animal
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. field — a subject
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. spell — letters
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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