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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 · stem · season · scale · mine · trunk · press · sharp

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. field — farmland
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — newspapers
  6. field — for sport
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. sharp — clever
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. scale — size or range
  16. season — in sport
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. mine — for digging
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. field — a subject
  21. scale — in music
  22. stem — to come from
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. press — to push

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