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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: field · perch · kick · chip · stem · bat · net · mine

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. chip — to eat
  3. net — in sport
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. net — for catching
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. perch — the fish
  13. net — after costs
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. field — farmland
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. field — for sport
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. kick — in football
  21. field — a subject
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. chip — for betting
  24. stem — to come from

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