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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. chest — a box
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. last — final
  5. object — a thing
  6. root — the cause
  7. object — an aim
  8. chest — of your body
  9. roll — a list
  10. craft — a skill
  11. last — to go on
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. root — of a plant
  15. chest — of your body
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. craft — boats
  18. roll — a cake
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. last — finally
  24. root — of a word

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