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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. ground — a position
  5. game — wild animals
  6. spell — letters
  7. root — the cause
  8. wax — to grow
  9. game — a match
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. rash — a series
  13. pop — soda
  14. ground — crushed
  15. rash — hasty
  16. ground — the earth
  17. spell — magic
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. pop — music
  21. root — of a plant
  22. mine — for digging
  23. root — of a word
  24. spell — a short time

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