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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. foot — a measure
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. wound — an injury
  8. court — of a king
  9. wound — an injury
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. court — for sport
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. shower — to wash
  18. field — farmland
  19. perch — the fish
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. pound — a weight
  22. court — of law
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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