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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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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. fork — in a road
  5. chest — a box
  6. dip — to sink
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a word
  11. season — of the year
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. chest — of your body
  14. field — for sport
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. season — in sport
  22. foot — a measure
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. root — of a plant

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