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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: file · ground · tube · date · mark · root · field · bat

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. tube — the underground
  3. file — a line of people
  4. mark — a trace
  5. date — the fruit
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. root — of a word
  10. ground — a position
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. root — of a plant
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. field — a subject
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. mark — a grade
  19. ground — crushed
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — a container
  23. root — the cause
  24. field — for sport

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