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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. vault — a safe
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. field — a subject
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. swing — music
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. drill — army training
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. drill — the tool
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ball — a dance
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. swing — in golf
  18. ball — a great time
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — to come from
  22. drill — a practice
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. field — for sport

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