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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. root — of a word
  3. root — the cause
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. saw — the tool
  7. root — of a plant
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hand — in cards
  10. object — a thing
  11. hand — help
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. row — to paddle
  15. object — an aim
  16. row — a line
  17. saw — the tool
  18. perch — the fish
  19. ball — a dance
  20. cold — an illness
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. perch — for a bird

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