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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  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. mark — to pay attention
  2. root — of a word
  3. mark — a grade
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. last — final
  6. spell — magic
  7. file — a document
  8. drill — the tool
  9. spell — letters
  10. file — a tool
  11. land — a country
  12. spell — a short time
  13. drill — army training
  14. row — a line
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. mark — a trace
  18. row — to paddle
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — ground
  21. file — a line of people
  22. root — the cause
  23. drill — a practice
  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