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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. branch — a division
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. ground — the earth
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — thin
  7. fall — to drop
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. root — of a plant
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fall — to drop
  13. content — happy
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. ground — crushed
  17. mark — a trace
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. root — the cause
  20. ground — a position
  21. mark — a grade
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. fall — the season
  24. content — the amount

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