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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. land — ground
  3. field — for sport
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. chest — a box
  11. march — music
  12. dip — to sink
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. march — the month
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — a country
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. mine — for digging
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. land — to come down
  23. bear — the animal
  24. march — the month

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