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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spell — letters
  4. field — a subject
  5. chair — a leader
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. lean — to bend
  9. ground — a position
  10. field — farmland
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. foot — a measure
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lean — thin
  19. pit — in a race
  20. spell — a short time
  21. ground — the earth
  22. spell — magic
  23. pit — a hole
  24. field — for sport

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