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

Word bank: chest · spring · kid · calf · saw · tear · fork · stem

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. tear — from crying
  6. saw — the tool
  7. tear — to rip
  8. spring — the season
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chest — a box
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. tear — from crying
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. fork — in a road
  19. spring — a coil
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. stem — to come from
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. spring — of water
  24. chest — of your body

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