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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: rest · fork · rock · foot · kid · field · stem · cell

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rest — what's left
  3. field — farmland
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. kid — child
  6. cell — a phone
  7. rest — what's left
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. field — for sport
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. rest — a break
  16. kid — to tease
  17. stem — to come from
  18. foot — a measure
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. field — a subject
  21. fork — in a road
  22. cell — in biology
  23. rock — a stone
  24. foot — part of the body

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