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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. root — the cause
  3. charge — in control
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. field — a subject
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. root — of a plant
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — money
  11. land — a country
  12. wound — an injury
  13. charge — a price
  14. charge — electricity
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. mine — for digging
  19. stem — to come from
  20. wound — an injury
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. land — to come down
  24. capital — a city

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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