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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. field — a subject
  3. lean — thin
  4. foot — a measure
  5. row — a line
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. row — to paddle
  8. lean — to bend
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. scale — size or range
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. chest — a box
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rash — hasty
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. scale — in music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — happy
  24. rash — a series

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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