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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. file — a tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. court — for sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. bark — to shout
  11. court — of law
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. court — of a king
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pass — a permit
  17. file — a document
  18. field — farmland
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — to come from
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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