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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 116 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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. land — ground
  3. object — to protest
  4. root — of a word
  5. degree — from a university
  6. root — the cause
  7. land — a country
  8. squash — to crush
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. root — of a plant
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. object — an aim
  16. land — to come down
  17. deal — to handle
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. degree — an amount
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. object — a thing
  22. degree — temperature
  23. squash — the sport
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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