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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. swing — in golf
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. scale — in music
  7. swing — to play on
  8. field — for sport
  9. scale — size or range
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. field — a subject
  16. spring — a coil
  17. swing — music
  18. field — farmland
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. rash — a series
  21. pitch — completely
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. scale — for weighing

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