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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. cell — a phone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. land — ground
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — a country
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rest — what's left
  11. root — of a plant
  12. tear — to rip
  13. plane — a tool
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. wind — moving air
  19. root — the cause
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. swing — in golf
  23. land — to come down
  24. plane — in geometry

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