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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. clip — for paper
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rash — hasty
  5. field — a subject
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. foot — a measure
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. fork — in a road
  19. rash — a series
  20. pass — a permit
  21. field — for sport
  22. shower — rain
  23. field — farmland
  24. sharp — exactly

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