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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. board — to get on
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — the earth
  5. field — for sport
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. bore — to tire
  9. field — a subject
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. spring — the season
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bore — to drill
  17. kid — child
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spring — a coil
  22. board — a committee
  23. spring — of water
  24. calf — a young animal

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