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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: cell · perch · temple · field · land · tube · hand · root

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. land — a country
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. field — for sport
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. tube — the underground
  9. root — of a plant
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cell — a phone
  12. tube — a container
  13. land — ground
  14. perch — the fish
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. root — of a word
  17. root — the cause
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. field — farmland
  21. land — to come down
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. field — a subject
  24. perch — for a bird

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