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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. land — to come down
  3. root — of a word
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. game — a match
  9. bound — obliged
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rash — a series
  13. field — farmland
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. rash — hasty
  18. root — of a plant
  19. prune — to trim
  20. root — the cause
  21. field — for sport
  22. bound — certain
  23. field — a subject
  24. game — wild animals

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