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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. row — a line
  3. staff — employees
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — the cause
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. mine — for digging
  10. degree — an amount
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. stem — to come from
  13. root — of a word
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. degree — temperature
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. hand — help
  21. staff — employees
  22. row — to paddle
  23. staff — a stick
  24. hand — in cards

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