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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 120 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. file — a tool
  5. root — of a plant
  6. bound — certain
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a word
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. file — a document
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. file — a line of people
  16. field — a subject
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bound — tied together
  19. wax — to grow
  20. court — of a king
  21. stem — to come from
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. racket — for tennis

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