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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. root — of a word
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. saw — the tool
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wound — an injury
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. wound — an injury
  9. track — a song
  10. march — music
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. track — to keep track
  13. march — the month
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. root — the cause
  16. march — the month
  17. season — of the year
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. root — of a plant
  22. ground — a position
  23. track — a path
  24. ground — the earth

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