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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rest — what's left
  3. root — of a word
  4. hand — help
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rest — a break
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — in music
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lie — to recline
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. rest — what's left
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. root — of a plant
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. root — the cause
  23. prune — to trim
  24. hand — part of the body

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