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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 have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. cap — of ice
  3. rash — hasty
  4. foot — a measure
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — rain
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cap — a hat
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. cap — a lid
  13. rash — a series
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wind — moving air
  16. field — for sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — for a bird

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