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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. root — the cause
  3. craft — boats
  4. root — of a plant
  5. file — a document
  6. face — part of the head
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — wild animals
  9. file — a line of people
  10. game — a match
  11. root — of a word
  12. last — to go on
  13. snap — to click
  14. wake — a trail
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — to confront
  17. last — finally
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. file — a tool
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. craft — a skill
  24. wake — before a funeral

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