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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. land — ground
  3. rule — a law
  4. cap — of ice
  5. stem — to come from
  6. cap — a lid
  7. land — to come down
  8. field — farmland
  9. chip — to eat
  10. root — of a word
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. land — a country
  14. root — of a plant
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. rule — government
  17. field — for sport
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. cap — a hat
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. root — the cause
  22. chip — for betting
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. field — a subject

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