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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. net — for catching
  3. cell — a phone
  4. net — in sport
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. object — to protest
  7. field — a subject
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bear — the animal
  13. object — a thing
  14. cell — in biology
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bear — the animal
  17. object — an aim
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. chest — a box
  20. net — after costs
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. field — for sport
  24. straw — a straw man

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