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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've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. spell — magic
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. root — of a word
  6. land — ground
  7. spell — letters
  8. root — of a plant
  9. snap — to click
  10. land — to come down
  11. prune — to trim
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. root — the cause
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. land — a country
  24. prune — the fruit

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