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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. mate — a partner
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. present — a gift
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. game — a match
  7. land — ground
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. land — a country
  12. present — the time now
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. mate — to breed
  16. mate — a friend
  17. wind — moving air
  18. game — wild animals
  19. land — to come down
  20. root — of a plant
  21. present — there
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — the cause

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