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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: fan · vault · foot · field · chest · arm · row · cell

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cell — in biology
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. chest — of your body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. vault — a safe
  11. chest — a box
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. row — a line
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. chest — of your body
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cell — a phone
  20. row — to paddle
  21. field — for sport
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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