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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. prune — to trim
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. root — of a plant
  5. current — happening now
  6. object — an aim
  7. game — wild animals
  8. current — electric
  9. field — farmland
  10. net — after costs
  11. scale — in music
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — in sport
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. scale — size or range
  17. root — the cause
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. current — of water
  20. object — a thing
  21. root — of a word
  22. game — a match
  23. prune — to trim
  24. game — a kind of play

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