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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 so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. chest — a box
  4. scale — in music
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. bound — obliged
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — a subject
  10. bound — certain
  11. field — farmland
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bound — tied together
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. stem — to come from
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chest — of your body
  21. dip — to sink
  22. field — for sport
  23. wound — an injury
  24. chest — of your body

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