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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: field · pop · bowl · cap · fine · pound · stem · chest

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. cap — a hat
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cap — a lid
  7. fine — all right
  8. chest — of your body
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. pop — soda
  14. pop — to visit
  15. field — farmland
  16. pop — music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. chest — a box
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cap — of ice
  24. pound — for dogs

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