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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 120 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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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: land · rest · field · root · bat · mine · race · prune

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. field — a subject
  3. root — of a word
  4. root — of a plant
  5. field — for sport
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — a contest
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. race — humankind
  10. rest — a break
  11. land — a country
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. mine — for digging
  15. land — to come down
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. land — ground
  19. race — the arms race
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bat — the animal
  23. root — the cause
  24. field — farmland

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