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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. snap — to click
  3. rule — a law
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. root — of a plant
  7. march — the month
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. march — music
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rule — government
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. march — the month
  16. prune — to trim
  17. root — of a word
  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