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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. season — in sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — a stone
  7. season — of the year
  8. field — for sport
  9. rock — music
  10. row — a line
  11. last — finally
  12. wound — an injury
  13. hand — help
  14. last — to go on
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. root — of a plant
  18. hand — in cards
  19. last — final
  20. field — a subject
  21. row — to paddle
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. root — the cause
  24. wound — an injury

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