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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 124 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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. land — a country
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. land — ground
  5. file — a tool
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. perch — the fish
  9. root — the cause
  10. land — to come down
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. file — a line of people
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. band — a ring
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. root — of a plant
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. file — a document
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. sharp — clever
  24. root — of a word

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