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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. game — a match
  3. ground — crushed
  4. lean — thin
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. squash — to crush
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. mate — a friend
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. root — of a plant
  14. ground — a position
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mate — to breed
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. squash — the sport
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. root — the cause
  21. game — wild animals
  22. ground — the earth
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. root — of a word

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