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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. spring — a coil
  7. root — of a plant
  8. bear — the animal
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. root — the cause
  13. kid — child
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. spring — of water
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. root — of a word
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. clip — a video
  23. spring — the season
  24. bear — the animal

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