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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cold — not warm
  3. root — the cause
  4. field — for sport
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. root — of a word
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cue — a signal
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cold — an illness
  14. field — farmland
  15. cue — a hint
  16. prune — to trim
  17. root — of a plant
  18. vault — a safe
  19. cue — for pool
  20. bear — the animal
  21. clip — a video
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. clip — for paper

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