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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: field · shower · wave · stem · bat · pitcher · content · lie

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. lie — to recline
  8. shower — to wash
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. field — for sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. content — happy
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stem — to come from
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. content — the amount
  24. wave — with your hand

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