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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. hand — in cards
  3. staff — a stick
  4. staff — employees
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. rule — a law
  8. field — for sport
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. deal — to handle
  15. bat — the animal
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. field — a subject
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. mine — for digging
  22. staff — employees
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rule — government

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