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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. field — farmland
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. net — in sport
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — of a word
  9. land — to come down
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. field — a subject
  12. land — ground
  13. lean — to bend
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. field — for sport
  18. fork — in a road
  19. root — the cause
  20. lean — thin
  21. net — after costs
  22. land — a country
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. net — for catching

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