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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rule — government
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. root — of a plant
  6. game — a match
  7. root — the cause
  8. root — of a word
  9. field — for sport
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. rule — a law
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — farmland
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. game — wild animals
  18. prune — to trim

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