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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: tear · pitcher · field · calf · net · chair · ground · chest

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. field — for sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. net — in sport
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. net — for catching
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. ground — the earth
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chest — a box
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. ground — crushed
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ground — a position
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — after costs
  24. field — farmland

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