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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. vault — a safe
  3. kid — child
  4. bat — the animal
  5. squash — to crush
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. kick — in football
  8. field — for sport
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. field — farmland
  12. squash — the sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. hide — to keep secret

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