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

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — to come down
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. root — the cause
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. root — of a word
  9. land — ground
  10. sharp — clever
  11. field — farmland
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. land — a country
  16. root — of a plant
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. field — a subject

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