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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. row — a line
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. lean — to bend
  8. lean — thin
  9. row — to paddle
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. mark — a trace
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. foot — a measure
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. cold — not warm
  17. game — wild animals
  18. date — the fruit
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mark — a grade
  21. game — a match
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. field — a subject
  24. row — a quarrel

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