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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. row — a line
  3. pop — music
  4. chip — to eat
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — child
  8. pop — to visit
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a plant
  11. row — to paddle
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. clip — a video
  15. season — in sport
  16. pop — soda
  17. chip — for betting
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. root — of a word
  21. clip — to cut
  22. season — of the year
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. temple — a place of worship

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