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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. field — a subject
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. lean — to bend
  6. rule — government
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. rule — a law
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. root — of a plant
  12. field — farmland
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — help
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. root — of a word
  17. root — the cause
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — the tool
  20. lean — thin
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. field — for sport
  23. drill — army training
  24. lean — to rest against

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