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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. root — of a word
  6. wind — moving air
  7. squash — the sport
  8. root — of a plant
  9. drill — a practice
  10. spring — of water
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a path
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kid — to tease
  15. squash — to crush
  16. drill — the tool
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. spring — the season
  19. kid — child
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. drill — army training
  23. spring — a coil
  24. track — a song

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