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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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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: cue · march · field · stem · ground · shower · mine · hand

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. field — a subject
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hand — in cards
  6. shower — rain
  7. hand — help
  8. field — for sport
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. march — music
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ground — the earth
  17. march — the month
  18. cue — a hint
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. field — farmland
  21. cue — a signal
  22. cue — for pool
  23. march — the month
  24. mine — for digging

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