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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.

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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. lie — to recline
  3. field — a subject
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. field — farmland
  6. court — for sport
  7. fall — to drop
  8. court — of law
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. foot — a measure
  11. spring — a coil
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. field — for sport
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. game — a match
  23. spring — the season
  24. court — of a king

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