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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. chest — a box
  6. mine — for digging
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. fork — in a road
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. field — for sport
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. pound — a weight
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. stem — to come from

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