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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. mug — a cup
  4. game — wild animals
  5. field — a subject
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. mug — to rob
  8. game — a match
  9. content — happy
  10. field — for sport
  11. chest — a box
  12. mug — a face
  13. content — the amount
  14. field — farmland
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stem — to come from
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. chest — of your body

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