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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. field — for sport
  3. bulb — for light
  4. object — to protest
  5. bulb — for light
  6. net — after costs
  7. clip — a video
  8. net — in sport
  9. capital — a city
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. object — a thing
  12. net — for catching
  13. root — of a plant
  14. field — a subject
  15. clip — to cut
  16. object — an aim
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. field — farmland
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. clip — for paper
  23. root — the cause
  24. capital — money

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