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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — all right
  4. root — of a word
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chest — a box
  8. row — to paddle
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. row — a line
  11. field — a subject
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. ball — a great time
  16. chest — of your body
  17. root — the cause
  18. fork — in a road
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. ball — a dance
  22. field — for sport
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. root — of a plant

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