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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  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. spring — the season
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. hand — in cards
  4. ground — the earth
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. ground — a position
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. present — the time now
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. root — of a word
  11. root — the cause
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. root — of a plant
  14. spring — of water
  15. present — a gift
  16. field — a subject
  17. ground — crushed
  18. hand — help
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. present — there
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  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