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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 laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. chest — of your body
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. field — for sport
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. craft — boats
  9. board — to get on
  10. foot — a measure
  11. tear — from crying
  12. chest — a box
  13. tear — to rip
  14. field — farmland
  15. tear — from crying
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — a hat
  20. chest — of your body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. craft — a skill
  23. board — a committee
  24. cap — of ice

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