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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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Word bank
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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. root — of a word
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. degree — temperature
  8. root — of a plant
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. capital — a city
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. field — a subject
  14. kid — child
  15. field — farmland
  16. degree — an amount
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. degree — from a university
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mine — for digging
  22. vault — a safe
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. root — the cause

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