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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  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. field — a subject
  2. kid — child
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. game — a match
  5. cue — a signal
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. kid — to tease
  8. field — farmland
  9. root — of a plant
  10. field — for sport
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cue — for pool
  13. object — to protest
  14. cue — a hint
  15. object — a thing
  16. root — of a word
  17. object — an aim
  18. mark — a trace
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. game — wild animals
  21. mark — a grade
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. arm — part of the body
  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