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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. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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 — farmland
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. drill — army training
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cap — a lid
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. field — a subject
  13. cap — of ice
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. bat — the animal
  16. key — in music
  17. cap — a hat
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. spring — the season
  23. field — for sport
  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