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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. chest — of your body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. row — a line
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stock — shares
  9. row — to paddle
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. field — for sport
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. chest — a box
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. stock — goods
  24. field — a subject

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