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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: pitcher · root · bat · wind · land · fork · field · drill

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fork — in a road
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. land — to come down
  8. bat — the animal
  9. root — of a word
  10. field — a subject
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — farmland
  13. land — ground
  14. land — a country
  15. drill — army training
  16. field — for sport
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — the cause
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. fork — a garden tool

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