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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. scale — size or range
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. game — a match
  8. foot — a measure
  9. scale — in music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. field — for sport
  18. mate — a partner
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mine — for digging

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