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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: kid · vault · bat · patient · content · rest · field · root

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. root — of a plant
  3. content — the amount
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bat — the animal
  6. vault — a safe
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. field — for sport
  13. rest — a break
  14. root — the cause
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. field — a subject
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. content — happy
  19. field — farmland
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. rest — what's left
  22. root — of a word
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. patient — a sick person

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