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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's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fork — in a road
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. pop — music
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. field — farmland
  14. pop — soda
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. pop — to visit
  19. chest — a box
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. chest — of your body
  22. field — for sport
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cell — in a prison

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