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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. pound — a weight
  3. root — of a plant
  4. march — music
  5. cell — in biology
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. field — farmland
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. rush — hurry
  10. march — the month
  11. game — wild animals
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cell — a phone
  14. root — the cause
  15. clip — a video
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. march — the month
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. game — a match
  23. root — of a word
  24. field — for sport

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