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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. swing — music
  4. pop — to visit
  5. kid — to tease
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. swing — to play on
  9. drill — a practice
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. sharp — clever
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. root — of a plant
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. root — the cause
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — soda
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. drill — the tool
  22. kid — child
  23. drill — army training
  24. swing — in golf

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