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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: fall · foot · cabinet · field · kid · wound · root · pitcher

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. foot — a measure
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. kid — child
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a plant
  10. fall — the season
  11. kid — to tease
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. root — of a word
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. field — for sport
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pitcher — a jug

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