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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: pitch · tube · fan · stem · bark · field · pop · saw

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. field — farmland
  3. tube — a container
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pitch — completely
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. stem — to come from
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pop — music
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. tube — the underground
  14. bark — to shout
  15. saw — the tool
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. pop — soda
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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