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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. game — wild animals
  8. foot — a measure
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. key — for a lock
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — not warm
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. key — in music
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. key — the most important part
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cold — an illness

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