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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. object — an aim
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — goods
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stem — to come from
  12. field — for sport
  13. rash — hasty
  14. field — farmland
  15. object — to protest
  16. key — in music
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. field — a subject
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. chest — a box
  21. object — a thing
  22. bat — the animal
  23. rash — a series
  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