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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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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 · foot · chest · kid · fall · degree · safe · fork

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fork — in a road
  5. degree — from a university
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. fall — the season
  9. chest — of your body
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. degree — temperature
  13. field — for sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. field — farmland
  16. chest — of your body
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. kid — child
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. chest — a box
  22. foot — a measure
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fall — to drop

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