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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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468
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: toast · foot · prune · field · rash · bat · perch · craft

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. toast — bread
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. foot — a measure
  5. field — farmland
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. craft — a skill
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. perch — the fish
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. craft — boats
  16. rash — hasty
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. rash — a series
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. craft — a handicraft

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