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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. net — in sport
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. net — for catching
  5. race — the arms race
  6. field — a subject
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. race — a contest
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. court — of law
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. field — for sport
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. field — farmland
  16. pitch — completely
  17. net — after costs
  18. root — the cause
  19. race — humankind
  20. court — for sport
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. court — of a king
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — of a plant

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