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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: bat · stem · fan · file · pass · bound · scale · field

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — farmland
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. scale — in music
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. bound — certain
  13. field — for sport
  14. pass — a permit
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. file — a tool
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. file — a line of people
  20. scale — size or range
  21. bound — tied together
  22. file — a document
  23. field — a subject
  24. stem — to come from

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