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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: stem · drill · wound · bat · lean · pitch · field · fall

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. lean — thin
  3. field — for sport
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. lean — to bend
  10. drill — army training
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fall — the season
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitch — completely
  18. field — farmland
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — a subject
  24. wound — an injury

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