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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  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. march — the month
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. field — for sport
  4. deal — to handle
  5. root — of a word
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cue — a signal
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. kid — to tease
  11. march — music
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. root — the cause
  14. kid — child
  15. cue — for pool
  16. march — the month
  17. field — farmland
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cell — a phone
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cue — a hint
  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