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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. ground — crushed
  3. root — of a word
  4. clip — a video
  5. ground — a position
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. net — in sport
  9. cell — a phone
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rest — what's left
  12. root — the cause
  13. net — for catching
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. bark — to shout
  19. net — after costs
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cell — in biology
  22. clip — for paper
  23. root — of a plant
  24. ground — the earth

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