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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 116 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: face · sharp · stem · land · field · leaves · tear · track

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. land — ground
  3. tear — from crying
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. land — to come down
  6. tear — to rip
  7. face — part of the head
  8. stem — to come from
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. land — a country
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. track — a song
  15. track — to keep track
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. sharp — clever
  19. face — to point toward
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. track — a path
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. face — to confront
  24. tear — from crying

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