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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. root — of a word
  5. rule — a law
  6. sharp — clever
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. root — of a plant
  10. root — the cause
  11. mine — for digging
  12. pound — a weight
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. wake — a trail
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rule — government
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. clip — for paper
  24. trunk — of a car

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