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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: root · field · fork · game · face · fall · roll · net

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. fall — to drop
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — to point toward
  6. fall — the season
  7. game — a match
  8. field — farmland
  9. root — of a plant
  10. field — a subject
  11. fall — to drop
  12. roll — a cake
  13. root — the cause
  14. game — wild animals
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. face — part of the head
  17. field — for sport
  18. roll — a list
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. root — of a word
  21. net — after costs
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. net — for catching

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