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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: calf · can · stem · kid · game · cold · field · spell

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. can — to be able to
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. stem — to come from
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. field — farmland
  17. spell — a short time
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — a tin
  20. spell — letters
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. field — a subject
  24. spell — magic

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