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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 have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. game — a match
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chair — a leader
  5. mate — a partner
  6. pound — a weight
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mate — to breed
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. prune — to trim
  19. foot — a measure
  20. cold — not warm
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. chair — a professorship

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