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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 a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. ground — a position
  4. root — the cause
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. row — to paddle
  10. mine — for digging
  11. key — the most important part
  12. row — a line
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. chest — of your body
  15. ground — the earth
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. ground — crushed
  18. key — for a lock
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. chest — a box
  22. key — in music
  23. root — of a word
  24. mine — an explosive

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