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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: leaves · toast · squash · foot · calf · bat · field · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. cold — an illness
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bat — the animal
  12. foot — a measure
  13. toast — bread
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. squash — to crush
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. leaves — of a tree

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