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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: tear · land · field · current · stem · plane · hand · file

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. file — a line of people
  3. current — of water
  4. tear — from crying
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. land — a country
  8. land — ground
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. tear — from crying
  12. hand — in cards
  13. field — farmland
  14. file — a document
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. current — happening now
  17. current — electric
  18. tear — to rip
  19. land — to come down
  20. hand — help
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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