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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. root — of a plant
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. root — the cause
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. date — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. snap — to click
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. fork — in a road
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. root — of a word
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. prune — to trim

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