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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. track — a song
  3. rest — what's left
  4. root — of a word
  5. track — to keep track
  6. root — the cause
  7. track — a path
  8. capital — a city
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. rest — what's left
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — child
  15. perch — the fish
  16. root — of a plant
  17. capital — money
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. rest — a break
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — to grow

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