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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: wound · nail · field · cabinet · ground · racket · stem · cold

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. field — for sport
  6. ground — crushed
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. ground — a position
  11. field — a subject
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cold — not warm
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. stem — to come from
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. ground — the earth
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. racket — for tennis

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