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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. march — the month
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. clip — a video
  5. chest — of your body
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. court — of a king
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. chest — a box
  13. root — the cause
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. clip — for paper
  16. march — the month
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. march — music
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. game — a match
  22. clip — to cut
  23. chest — of your body
  24. root — of a plant

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