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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. game — a match
  3. rock — a stone
  4. field — a subject
  5. net — after costs
  6. root — the cause
  7. field — for sport
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. net — in sport
  10. swing — in golf
  11. net — for catching
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a tool
  14. kid — to tease
  15. game — wild animals
  16. file — a line of people
  17. root — of a word
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. root — of a plant
  21. field — farmland
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. swing — music
  24. rock — music

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