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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. club — for golf
  3. root — of a word
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. pit — in a race
  6. root — of a plant
  7. club — for dancing
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. club — a group
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — of water
  12. file — a document
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. content — the amount
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. content — happy
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. root — the cause
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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