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

Word bank: lie · wind · rest · field · stem · fork · ground · pop

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. stem — to come from
  3. rest — what's left
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ground — a position
  10. lie — to recline
  11. pop — soda
  12. field — a subject
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pop — to visit
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. field — for sport
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. field — farmland
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pop — music
  22. ground — the earth
  23. fork — in a road
  24. stem — of a plant

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