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

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. root — of a word
  3. track — to keep track
  4. kid — child
  5. track — a song
  6. snap — to click
  7. field — farmland
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. root — the cause
  13. root — of a plant
  14. track — a path
  15. kid — to tease
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. field — for sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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