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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: key · kid · season · shower · ground · root · march · field

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. ground — the earth
  3. field — for sport
  4. shower — to wash
  5. season — of the year
  6. root — the cause
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. kid — to tease
  9. root — of a plant
  10. ground — crushed
  11. key — in music
  12. ground — a position
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. march — the month
  15. key — the most important part
  16. key — for a lock
  17. field — farmland
  18. season — in sport
  19. kid — child
  20. field — a subject
  21. root — of a word
  22. march — the month
  23. shower — rain
  24. march — music

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