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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. root — of a word
  10. row — a line
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. root — of a plant
  13. game — a match
  14. row — to paddle
  15. root — the cause
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bulb — for light
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bulb — for light
  20. scale — in music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. game — wild animals
  23. season — of the year
  24. season — in sport

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