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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. track — a path
  4. vault — a safe
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. root — the cause
  9. clip — for paper
  10. track — to keep track
  11. clip — to cut
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wound — an injury
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. plane — a tool
  18. track — a song
  19. clip — a video
  20. wound — an injury
  21. root — of a plant
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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