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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 116 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  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. club — for dancing
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. field — a subject
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. field — farmland
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a friend
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. spring — of water
  12. mate — a partner
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. stem — to come from
  17. spring — the season
  18. field — for sport
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. bat — the animal
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — a group
  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