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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: ground · pit · stand · stem · racket · field · band · cell

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. pit — in a race
  5. band — a music group
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. field — a subject
  9. ground — the earth
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. field — farmland
  12. stand — to bear
  13. pit — a hole
  14. ground — a position
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. ground — crushed
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. band — a ring
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. field — for sport
  24. stem — to come from

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