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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spell — magic
  3. staff — employees
  4. root — the cause
  5. field — farmland
  6. branch — a division
  7. foot — a measure
  8. spell — letters
  9. field — for sport
  10. root — of a word
  11. spell — a short time
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. staff — a stick
  15. root — of a plant
  16. march — the month
  17. staff — employees
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. ground — a position
  20. march — music
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. march — the month
  23. field — a subject
  24. ground — the earth

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