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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 116 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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. field — a subject
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. root — the cause
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. tube — a container
  9. game — a match
  10. prune — to trim
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. root — of a word
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. field — for sport
  16. prune — to trim
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rule — a law
  19. tube — the underground
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. game — wild animals
  22. root — of a plant
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. field — farmland

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