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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. field — for sport
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. field — a subject
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. wind — moving air
  10. club — for golf
  11. root — the cause
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. club — for dancing
  14. field — farmland
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. club — a group
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — of a word
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chip — to eat
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. chip — for betting

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