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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 · chip · calf · chest · clip · bulb · bay · stem

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — for light
  3. stem — to come from
  4. field — a subject
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chip — to eat
  7. clip — to cut
  8. field — for sport
  9. clip — a video
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. clip — for paper
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. chest — of your body
  16. field — farmland
  17. chest — a box
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. chip — for betting
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. stem — of a plant

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