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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cap — a lid
  4. wound — an injury
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — the cause
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. key — for a lock
  10. field — a subject
  11. fork — in a road
  12. cap — a hat
  13. key — the most important part
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. field — farmland
  16. cap — of ice
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. root — of a word
  21. field — for sport
  22. spring — of water
  23. key — in music
  24. wound — an injury

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