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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: field · kick · dip · tear · bat · chest · stem · cabinet

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. field — farmland
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kick — in football
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bat — the animal
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. stem — to come from
  10. chest — a box
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. dip — to sink
  24. tear — to rip

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