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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. field — for sport
  2. root — the cause
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. cold — not warm
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. field — farmland
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chip — to eat
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. field — a subject
  18. root — of a word
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. root — of a plant
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. hand — in cards
  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