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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: tube · wound · stem · kid · clip · stand · pitcher · field

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. tube — a container
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stem — to come from
  6. field — a subject
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. field — for sport
  9. clip — a video
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. kid — to tease
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. clip — to cut
  18. field — farmland
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. tube — the underground

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