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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. root — of a plant
  3. content — happy
  4. root — of a word
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. root — the cause
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. race — the arms race
  13. last — final
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. scale — in music
  16. last — to go on
  17. scale — size or range
  18. content — the amount
  19. race — a contest
  20. last — finally
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. race — humankind
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wake — a trail

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