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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 ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wound — an injury
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cold — an illness
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. prune — to trim
  14. clip — a video
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chip — for betting
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. root — the cause
  23. chip — to eat
  24. bat — for baseball

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