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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. root — of a word
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. root — of a plant
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. squash — the sport
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cue — a hint
  11. net — for catching
  12. march — music
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cue — for pool
  16. squash — to crush
  17. march — the month
  18. root — the cause
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — to tease
  21. clip — a video
  22. kid — child
  23. cue — a signal
  24. sharp — exactly

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