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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. row — a line
  3. root — the cause
  4. clip — to cut
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spring — of water
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. present — the time now
  14. spring — a coil
  15. root — of a word
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — the season
  19. clip — a video
  20. root — of a plant
  21. present — a gift
  22. present — there
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. fan — a supporter

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