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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ground · field · stand · stem · mine · season · bark · game

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. field — for sport
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. stand — to bear
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. field — farmland
  7. season — in sport
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. field — a subject
  10. ground — a position
  11. game — a match
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ground — crushed
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. game — wild animals
  19. ground — the earth
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. season — of the year
  23. bark — to shout
  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