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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 116 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. root — of a plant
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. stock — goods
  7. tear — from crying
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. stock — shares
  10. land — a country
  11. band — a ring
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bass — low music
  14. root — of a word
  15. bass — the fish
  16. tear — to rip
  17. root — the cause
  18. land — ground
  19. field — farmland
  20. band — a music group
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. land — to come down
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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