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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. root — of a word
  4. spring — a coil
  5. craft — a skill
  6. ground — crushed
  7. spring — of water
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. root — of a plant
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. ground — a position
  13. kid — child
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. ground — the earth
  16. craft — boats
  17. spring — the season
  18. root — the cause

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