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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. field — a subject
  3. root — of a word
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. game — a match
  7. root — the cause
  8. bat — the animal
  9. field — farmland
  10. fine — high quality
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. root — of a plant
  14. drill — army training
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. game — wild animals
  17. fine — all right
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. drill — a practice
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. drill — the tool
  22. field — for sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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