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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — a group
  5. field — a subject
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. drill — a practice
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. club — for golf
  12. kick — in football
  13. drill — the tool
  14. field — for sport
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stem — to come from
  18. field — farmland
  19. lean — to bend
  20. lean — thin
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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