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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 120 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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. field — for sport
  3. land — to come down
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. degree — an amount
  8. root — the cause
  9. degree — from a university
  10. land — a country
  11. degree — temperature
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — of a word
  14. chip — to eat
  15. field — farmland
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. cold — not warm
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. branch — a division
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. land — ground
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. field — a subject

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