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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: rush · safe · ground · chair · stem · field · court · spring

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. field — farmland
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. stem — to come from
  7. field — for sport
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. field — a subject
  12. court — for sport
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — the season
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. chair — a leader
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. court — of law
  21. ground — the earth
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. court — of a king

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