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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. field — a subject
  3. land — a country
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. deal — to handle
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. dip — to sink
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. spring — a coil
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. land — to come down
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. bore — to drill
  15. spring — the season
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. prune — to trim
  18. land — ground
  19. game — wild animals
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. spring — of water
  23. bore — to tire
  24. prune — to trim

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