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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. drill — a practice
  3. mine — for digging
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. dip — to sink
  6. cell — in biology
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — the cause
  9. perch — the fish
  10. root — of a plant
  11. drill — the tool
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. drill — army training
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wound — an injury
  24. dip — a sauce

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