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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 a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. ball — a dance
  3. root — the cause
  4. ball — a great time
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wound — an injury
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wound — an injury
  11. root — of a word
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. bat — the animal
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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