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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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  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 — a subject
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. current — electric
  9. bat — the animal
  10. squash — the sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. current — of water
  14. chest — of your body
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. current — happening now
  18. squash — to crush
  19. foot — a measure
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. coach — a trainer
  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