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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: ground · rock · root · field · wake · mine · tube · cue

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mine — for digging
  4. ground — a position
  5. cue — a hint
  6. rock — a stone
  7. tube — a container
  8. wake — a trail
  9. root — of a word
  10. field — farmland
  11. rock — music
  12. ground — the earth
  13. root — of a plant
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. field — a subject
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. tube — the underground
  19. root — the cause
  20. cue — a signal
  21. field — for sport
  22. cue — for pool
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. mine — an explosive

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