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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. court — for sport
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. roll — a cake
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. root — of a plant
  9. field — for sport
  10. plane — a tool
  11. root — the cause
  12. shower — rain
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. root — of a word
  15. dip — to sink
  16. shower — to wash
  17. roll — a list
  18. mine — for digging
  19. field — a subject
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. field — farmland
  22. court — of law
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. court — of a king

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