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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. root — the cause
  3. court — for sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. squash — the sport
  7. court — of law
  8. shower — to wash
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. shower — rain
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. root — of a plant
  13. cell — in biology
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wake — a trail
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. court — of a king
  19. root — of a word
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. cell — a phone
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cell — in a prison

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