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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: deal · ground · stem · wound · pound · bark · field · date

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. field — for sport
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. wound — an injury
  6. field — a subject
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. wound — an injury
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. date — the fruit
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. stem — to come from
  16. field — farmland
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. deal — to handle
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. pound — a weight
  24. ground — the earth

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