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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: march · fall · band · stem · racket · field · wax · lie

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. march — the month
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. band — a music group
  5. fall — to drop
  6. stem — to come from
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. field — farmland
  10. band — a ring
  11. lie — to recline
  12. field — for sport
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. field — a subject
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. march — music
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. fall — the season
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. fall — to drop

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