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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cell · ball · ground · stem · wake · field · land · cold

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. ball — a great time
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stem — to come from
  8. land — ground
  9. ball — a dance
  10. ground — crushed
  11. field — farmland
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. ground — a position
  18. field — a subject
  19. ground — the earth
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cell — a phone
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cold — an illness

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