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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: kid · game · arm · field · lean · root · land · leaves

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. root — the cause
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. field — farmland
  5. land — a country
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. kid — child
  8. lean — to bend
  9. root — of a word
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. land — to come down
  15. field — a subject
  16. lean — thin
  17. field — for sport
  18. land — ground
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. root — of a plant
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. kid — to tease
  24. game — a match

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