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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. scale — size or range
  3. foot — a measure
  4. spring — of water
  5. roll — a list
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. roll — a cake
  9. court — for sport
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. field — farmland
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. court — of law
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. court — of a king
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. field — for sport
  20. chest — a box
  21. scale — in music
  22. field — a subject
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. chest — of your body

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