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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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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: ground · chest · cell · spring · tube · straw · field · bear

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. tube — a container
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. field — farmland
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. ground — the earth
  11. field — a subject
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. spring — of water
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. chest — a box
  19. spring — the season
  20. field — for sport
  21. ground — a position
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. tube — the underground
  24. cell — a phone

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