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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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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: prune · game · tear · perch · mate · field · root · foot

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. field — for sport
  5. root — of a plant
  6. mate — a friend
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — farmland
  9. game — wild animals
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mate — to breed
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. prune — to trim
  16. root — the cause
  17. foot — a measure
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. perch — the fish
  21. field — a subject
  22. root — of a word
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. foot — part of the body

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