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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 116 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: nail · row · stem · wax · field · bound · current · cold

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. field — for sport
  5. current — electric
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bound — certain
  8. bound — obliged
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bound — tied together
  14. field — a subject
  15. row — a line
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. current — happening now
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. stem — to come from
  21. cold — an illness
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. current — of water
  24. cold — not warm

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