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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. pop — soda
  4. root — of a plant
  5. field — a subject
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. pop — music
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. net — in sport
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. net — for catching
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. root — the cause
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. squash — the sport
  17. pop — to visit
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. squash — to crush
  20. root — of a word
  21. band — a music group
  22. mine — for digging
  23. net — after costs
  24. band — a ring

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