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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 120 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. root — of a plant
  7. cell — in biology
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. lean — thin
  13. march — the month
  14. game — wild animals
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. cell — a phone
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. game — a match
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. root — the cause

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