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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. root — of a word
  3. clip — for paper
  4. hand — help
  5. track — to keep track
  6. mug — a cup
  7. cold — an illness
  8. root — of a plant
  9. squash — to crush
  10. mug — a face
  11. track — a song
  12. squash — the sport
  13. hand — in cards
  14. root — the cause
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cold — not warm
  17. track — a path
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. ground — a position
  20. clip — a video
  21. mug — to rob
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ground — crushed

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