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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 120 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. land — a country
  3. field — for sport
  4. land — ground
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. root — of a plant
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wax — to grow
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — the cause
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. key — in music
  14. field — a subject
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. key — the most important part
  17. land — to come down
  18. ground — the earth
  19. field — farmland
  20. key — for a lock
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. ground — a position
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. mine — for digging

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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