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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. file — a line of people
  4. tube — the underground
  5. field — farmland
  6. root — the cause
  7. file — a tool
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. swing — to play on
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — completely
  15. root — of a word
  16. swing — in golf
  17. root — of a plant
  18. tube — a container
  19. swing — music
  20. file — a document
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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