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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: present · field · cell · jam · game · pit · file · stem

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. field — for sport
  3. stem — to come from
  4. file — a document
  5. cell — a phone
  6. game — wild animals
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. pit — in a race
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. present — there
  11. field — farmland
  12. file — a tool
  13. cell — in biology
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. field — a subject
  17. game — a match
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. file — a line of people
  21. present — the time now
  22. present — a gift
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. jam — a tight spot

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