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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. root — of a word
  3. swing — music
  4. last — finally
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. last — to go on
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cold — an illness
  11. swing — to play on
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. last — final
  16. swing — in golf
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. root — the cause

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