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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ground — crushed
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. root — of a word
  7. ground — the earth
  8. root — the cause
  9. season — in sport
  10. season — of the year
  11. ball — a great time
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. ground — a position
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. ball — a dance
  16. wax — to grow
  17. root — of a plant
  18. ball — a round shape

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