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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. field — for sport
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. net — after costs
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — farmland
  11. root — of a plant
  12. firm — decided
  13. firm — steady
  14. net — in sport
  15. root — of a word
  16. net — for catching
  17. spring — the season
  18. field — a subject
  19. spring — a coil
  20. root — the cause
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. firm — a company
  24. racket — for tennis

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