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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.

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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. root — of a plant
  5. ground — the earth
  6. wind — moving air
  7. charge — a price
  8. spring — the season
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. spring — a coil
  11. present — there
  12. spring — of water
  13. charge — electricity
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. ground — crushed
  16. swing — in golf
  17. present — a gift
  18. root — of a word
  19. charge — in control
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — to play on
  22. root — the cause
  23. ground — a position
  24. present — the time now

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