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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. cap — a hat
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. root — the cause
  5. cap — a lid
  6. drill — army training
  7. cap — of ice
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mine — for digging
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. clip — a video
  12. bat — the animal
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. hand — in cards
  15. drill — the tool
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — for paper
  19. root — of a plant
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hand — help
  22. drill — a practice
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. mine — an explosive

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