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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 120 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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. foot — a measure
  3. track — a path
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. field — farmland
  6. track — a song
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. press — to push
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. rash — a series
  13. press — a publisher
  14. rash — hasty
  15. press — newspapers
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. track — to keep track
  20. field — a subject
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. field — for sport

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