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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: prune · foot · pitcher · field · cold · leaves

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. field — farmland
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — a subject
  7. cold — an illness
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. prune — to trim
  14. field — for sport
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. cold — not warm
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cold — the Cold War

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