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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 120 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 · march · stem · rush · shower · ground · bark · field

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. march — the month
  3. shower — rain
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. stem — to come from
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bat — the animal
  9. field — for sport
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. field — farmland
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. march — the month
  15. bark — to shout
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. ground — a position
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. rush — hurry
  22. march — music
  23. field — a subject
  24. ground — crushed

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