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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. root — of a word
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. swing — to play on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wind — moving air
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. rush — hurry
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — tied together
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. swing — music
  17. root — the cause
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. tear — to rip
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. swing — in golf

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