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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 120 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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. race — humankind
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. race — the arms race
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. field — farmland
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. field — for sport
  11. content — happy
  12. stem — to come from
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. content — the amount
  17. shower — rain
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. chest — of your body
  20. file — a tool
  21. race — a contest
  22. shower — to wash
  23. field — a subject
  24. stem — a stem cell

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