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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 116 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. root — of a plant
  4. face — to confront
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. land — to come down
  8. bat — the animal
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — the cause
  11. ground — crushed
  12. sharp — clever
  13. content — happy
  14. face — to point toward
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. land — a country
  18. prune — to trim
  19. ground — the earth
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. face — part of the head
  24. land — ground

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