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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pound — a weight
  7. foot — a measure
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. season — in sport
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. rash — hasty
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rash — a series
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. row — a line

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