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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. ground — a position
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — to visit
  6. bear — the animal
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a plant
  10. prune — to trim
  11. file — a line of people
  12. court — of law
  13. pop — music
  14. file — a tool
  15. root — of a word
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bear — the animal
  18. court — for sport
  19. ground — the earth
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. file — a document
  22. court — of a king
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. racket — for tennis

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