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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. rock — music
  4. land — a country
  5. field — for sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. tube — a container
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tube — the underground
  13. rock — a stone
  14. field — a subject
  15. spring — the season
  16. field — farmland
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. land — to come down
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. spring — of water
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. land — ground
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. safe — out of danger

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