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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. root — of a word
  3. kid — child
  4. bound — certain
  5. row — a line
  6. net — in sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. squash — the sport
  10. root — of a plant
  11. squash — to crush
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. bound — tied together
  15. row — to paddle
  16. kid — to tease
  17. root — the cause
  18. bound — obliged

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