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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. file — a document
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bear — the animal
  8. row — a line
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. file — a tool
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bank — for money
  15. mine — for digging
  16. root — the cause
  17. bank — for money
  18. row — to paddle
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. root — of a plant
  21. file — a line of people
  22. root — of a word
  23. season — in sport
  24. dip — to sink

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