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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. face — to point toward
  4. chip — to eat
  5. face — to confront
  6. face — part of the head
  7. field — for sport
  8. root — of a plant
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. cold — an illness
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — a subject
  18. root — of a word
  19. root — the cause
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. date — the fruit
  22. chip — for betting
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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