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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. row — a line
  2. root — of a word
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. root — of a plant
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. clip — a video
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. row — to paddle
  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