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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 120 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bound — certain
  4. root — of a plant
  5. mate — a friend
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mate — a partner
  8. game — a match
  9. can — to be able to
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bound — obliged
  12. can — a tin
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. root — the cause
  15. ground — a position
  16. mate — to breed
  17. clip — a video
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. ground — crushed
  20. can — a tin
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. root — of a word
  23. game — wild animals
  24. clip — for paper

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