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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bear — the animal
  4. tube — a container
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. lean — thin
  9. bear — the animal
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. tube — the underground
  17. lean — to bend
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. file — a document
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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