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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. root — the cause
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rock — music
  6. rock — a stone
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — to handle
  9. root — of a word
  10. drill — army training
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. chest — a box
  13. land — ground
  14. land — to come down
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. drill — a practice
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pound — a weight
  19. chest — of your body
  20. root — of a plant
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. rock — to move gently

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