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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — hasty
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. club — for golf
  7. field — a subject
  8. mine — for digging
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for dancing
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. field — for sport
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. rash — a series
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. foot — a measure
  22. wind — moving air
  23. field — farmland
  24. foot — the bottom

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