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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. bound — obliged
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. field — a subject
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bound — tied together
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. field — for sport
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. field — farmland
  14. bound — certain
  15. ground — a position
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chest — of your body
  19. ground — the earth
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. chest — a box
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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