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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 the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. foot — a measure
  3. field — a subject
  4. lean — thin
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — for sport
  7. dip — to sink
  8. root — of a word
  9. fall — to drop
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — final
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. lean — to bend
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. shower — rain
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. last — finally
  18. field — farmland
  19. shower — to wash
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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