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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · last · bowl · root · field · drill

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. drill — a practice
  3. drill — army training
  4. land — ground
  5. root — of a word
  6. land — to come down
  7. drill — the tool
  8. root — the cause
  9. field — farmland
  10. land — a country
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. root — of a plant
  13. last — finally
  14. field — a subject
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. last — to go on
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. field — for sport

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