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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. perch — the fish
  3. ground — the earth
  4. tear — from crying
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. face — to point toward
  7. ground — crushed
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — for paper
  10. root — of a plant
  11. saw — the tool
  12. tear — to rip
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. ground — a position
  15. face — part of the head
  16. root — the cause
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — to cut
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. clip — a video
  21. face — to confront
  22. plane — a tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. root — of a word

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