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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: safe · field · fan · cold · cell · kick · chest · bound

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bound — certain
  5. field — a subject
  6. bound — tied together
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. field — for sport
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chest — of your body
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. kick — in football
  21. field — farmland
  22. chest — a box
  23. bound — obliged
  24. cell — in a prison

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