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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 120 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cold — not warm
  5. clip — a video
  6. cue — a hint
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — ground
  9. root — of a plant
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mark — a grade
  12. cue — a signal
  13. land — a country
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cue — for pool
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. root — the cause
  19. present — the time now
  20. clip — for paper
  21. present — a gift
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. root — of a word
  24. mark — a trace

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