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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. hand — help
  3. field — a subject
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. firm — a company
  7. pop — music
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. firm — decided
  10. foot — a measure
  11. chest — a box
  12. pop — soda
  13. chest — of your body
  14. field — for sport
  15. ground — a position
  16. hand — in cards
  17. firm — steady
  18. chest — of your body
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fall — the season
  24. field — farmland

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