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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. tube — the underground
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. stand — to bear
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. chest — a box
  11. field — for sport
  12. snap — to click
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. tube — a container
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. field — farmland
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. chest — of your body

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