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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 116 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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. ground — crushed
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. ground — a position
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. staff — a stick
  9. hand — in cards
  10. clip — a video
  11. prune — to trim
  12. clip — for paper
  13. staff — employees
  14. game — a match
  15. root — of a plant
  16. root — of a word
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bat — the animal
  20. root — the cause
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. staff — employees
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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