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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. root — of a word
  3. spring — of water
  4. land — ground
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. file — a document
  11. spring — the season
  12. drill — the tool
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. drill — army training
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. spring — a coil
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — the cause
  19. land — a country
  20. land — to come down
  21. drill — a practice
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — clever
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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