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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: tube · game · stem · ground · march · field · last · rule

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. ground — the earth
  6. last — final
  7. ground — a position
  8. rule — government
  9. march — music
  10. last — to go on
  11. game — wild animals
  12. tube — the underground
  13. rule — a law
  14. march — the month
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. ground — crushed
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. last — finally
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a match
  24. tube — a container

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