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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. bear — the animal
  2. key — in music
  3. key — the most important part
  4. root — of a plant
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. key — for a lock
  8. clip — a video
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. clip — for paper
  12. squash — to crush
  13. root — of a word
  14. bear — the animal
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — an illness
  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