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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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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: chair · stem · chest · wind · tear · cabinet · track · field

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — farmland
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. tear — to rip
  6. track — to keep track
  7. field — a subject
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. track — a song
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. track — a path
  15. field — for sport
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chair — a leader
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. chest — a box
  22. stem — to come from
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. chair — a professorship

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