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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — a country
  6. chip — for betting
  7. mate — a friend
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. root — of a word
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. spring — the season
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. field — for sport
  14. clip — a video
  15. spring — a coil
  16. land — ground
  17. land — to come down
  18. root — the cause
  19. spring — of water
  20. field — farmland
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a partner
  23. chip — to eat
  24. straw — dry grass

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