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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. root — the cause
  3. fall — to drop
  4. kid — child
  5. root — of a plant
  6. spell — magic
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fall — the season
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — letters
  12. swing — to play on
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. fall — to drop
  15. root — of a word
  16. swing — in golf
  17. snap — to click
  18. swing — music

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