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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. prune — to trim
  3. root — the cause
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — a group
  7. land — a country
  8. club — for golf
  9. field — for sport
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. land — ground
  12. file — a document
  13. spell — a short time
  14. file — a tool
  15. land — to come down
  16. wake — a trail
  17. spell — magic
  18. field — farmland
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spell — letters
  22. field — a subject
  23. file — a line of people
  24. prune — to trim

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