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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. root — the cause
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a partner
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. root — of a plant
  7. root — of a word
  8. pop — to visit
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. game — wild animals
  11. mate — a friend
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pop — soda
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. fork — in a road
  16. kid — child
  17. pop — music
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — a match
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — to grow
  24. fork — to eat with

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