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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 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cold — not warm
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. ball — a great time
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. drill — army training
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fall — the season
  10. kick — in football
  11. root — of a plant
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. game — a match
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. cold — an illness
  17. root — the cause
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. drill — a practice
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — the tool
  23. ball — a dance
  24. patient — a sick person

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