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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: field · chest · pitcher · wind · cap · firm · wave · stem

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — farmland
  6. firm — steady
  7. wind — moving air
  8. field — a subject
  9. firm — decided
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. firm — a company
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — of ice
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. field — for sport
  22. stem — to come from
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. chest — a box

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