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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. root — the cause
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — to visit
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. root — of a plant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. dip — to sink

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