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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. spring — of water
  3. ground — a position
  4. spring — a coil
  5. fine — all right
  6. root — of a word
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fine — high quality
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a plant
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. rock — music
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rock — a stone
  23. ground — the earth
  24. spring — the season

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