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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  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. pitch — completely
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. spring — of water
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spring — the season
  10. cell — a phone
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cell — in biology
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. calf — a young animal
  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