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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 protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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. ground — the earth
  4. field — a subject
  5. pass — a permit
  6. bat — the animal
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — a tin
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. spell — letters
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. spell — a short time
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ground — crushed
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. spell — magic
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. can — to be able to
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. ground — a position
  24. field — for sport

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