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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 116 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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. band — a ring
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. band — a music group
  9. field — a subject
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — to recline
  15. stem — to come from
  16. field — farmland
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. trunk — of a tree

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