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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 120 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. root — of a word
  3. present — a gift
  4. field — farmland
  5. spring — a coil
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. spring — of water
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — for catching
  10. field — for sport
  11. fall — the season
  12. fine — all right
  13. net — after costs
  14. rash — a series
  15. fine — high quality
  16. field — a subject
  17. spring — the season
  18. present — there
  19. fall — to drop
  20. root — the cause
  21. present — the time now
  22. root — of a plant
  23. fall — to drop
  24. rash — on the skin

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