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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. pop — to visit
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. face — part of the head
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. spring — a coil
  7. file — a line of people
  8. net — for catching
  9. mine — for digging
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. file — a tool
  12. face — to point toward
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. spring — of water
  15. file — a document
  16. net — in sport
  17. pop — soda
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pop — music
  20. net — after costs
  21. fine — all right
  22. face — to confront
  23. fine — high quality
  24. spring — the season

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