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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spell — magic
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. spell — letters
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. root — of a plant
  8. cold — an illness
  9. root — the cause
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. squash — to crush
  13. date — the fruit
  14. spell — a short time
  15. dip — to sink
  16. file — a tool
  17. tear — from crying
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. tear — from crying
  24. squash — the 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