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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. root — of a word
  3. cue — a signal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. swing — in golf
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. clip — a video
  8. cue — for pool
  9. swing — to play on
  10. dip — to sink
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. cue — a hint
  16. branch — a division
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. root — of a plant
  19. clip — to cut
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. root — the cause
  22. cell — in biology
  23. swing — music
  24. clip — for paper

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