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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: club · bass · stem · bear · wake · sharp · field · root

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. club — for golf
  3. field — farmland
  4. root — of a word
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. field — a subject
  7. club — for dancing
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. field — for sport
  10. root — of a plant
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bear — the animal
  17. sharp — clever
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. root — the cause
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. club — a group
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. stem — to come from

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