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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. pit — a hole
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. rash — hasty
  9. pit — in a race
  10. field — for sport
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. rash — a series
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. field — farmland
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. field — a subject

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