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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bat — the animal
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — the season
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. lean — thin
  11. root — of a word
  12. ball — a great time
  13. field — farmland
  14. root — of a plant
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. field — for sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. fork — in a road
  21. field — a subject
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. spring — a coil
  24. root — the cause

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