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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. 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. sharp — clever
  2. club — for dancing
  3. shower — to wash
  4. root — of a word
  5. game — wild animals
  6. perch — the fish
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. club — for golf
  9. shower — rain
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. root — of a plant
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. game — a match
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. club — a group
  24. 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