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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. field — farmland
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. field — a subject
  5. band — a ring
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. band — a music group
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. march — music
  10. root — of a word
  11. root — the cause
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. march — the month
  14. root — of a plant
  15. march — the month
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — in a road
  21. deal — to handle
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. field — for sport

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