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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. date — the fruit
  5. present — a gift
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. field — farmland
  9. root — of a word
  10. present — there
  11. present — the time now
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. field — for sport
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. spring — a coil
  18. kick — in football
  19. field — a subject
  20. root — of a plant
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. root — the cause
  24. nail — on a finger

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