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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pop — music
  4. clip — a video
  5. charge — a price
  6. row — to paddle
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — an amount
  9. charge — electricity
  10. pop — to visit
  11. chest — of your body
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — for paper
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pop — soda
  20. clip — to cut
  21. root — of a word
  22. charge — in control
  23. degree — temperature
  24. row — a line

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