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

Word bank: foot · mine · bat · field · pound · rule · cold · bowl

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. foot — a measure
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. field — a subject
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. field — for sport
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. field — farmland
  13. pound — a weight
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rule — government
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — a law
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pound — for dogs

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