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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. root — of a plant
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. kid — child
  12. root — of a word
  13. spell — magic
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — rain
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. spell — letters
  21. root — the cause
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. spell — a short time
  24. wind — moving air

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