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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. shower — to wash
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. field — farmland
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lean — to bend
  10. field — for sport
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cold — not warm
  15. field — a subject
  16. mate — to breed
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. mate — a friend
  19. foot — a measure
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mate — a partner
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. lean — thin
  24. shower — rain

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