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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. spring — of water
  3. field — for sport
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. mark — a trace
  6. root — the cause
  7. field — a subject
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. spring — a coil
  10. root — of a plant
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. kick — in football
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. spring — the season
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — a tool
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. mark — a grade
  22. root — of a word
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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