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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. root — the cause
  15. kick — in football
  16. ball — a dance
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. ball — a great time
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. perch — the fish
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fan — to cool the air

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