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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. game — wild animals
  4. face — to point toward
  5. perch — the fish
  6. degree — from a university
  7. root — the cause
  8. present — the time now
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. degree — temperature
  11. game — a match
  12. face — to confront
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. degree — an amount
  15. present — there
  16. present — a gift
  17. face — part of the head
  18. march — music
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. march — the month
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. march — the month
  24. root — of a plant

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