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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. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cap — a lid
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. clip — a video
  8. pop — soda
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rash — a series
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. root — of a plant
  13. cap — of ice
  14. wind — moving air
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rash — hasty
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. root — the cause
  21. mine — for digging
  22. pop — to visit
  23. pop — music
  24. cap — a hat

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