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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. shower — rain
  3. last — final
  4. clip — for paper
  5. spell — letters
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. spell — a short time
  10. root — of a word
  11. key — for a lock
  12. key — the most important part
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. last — finally
  15. root — of a plant
  16. clip — to cut
  17. mine — for digging
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. clip — a video
  20. shower — to wash
  21. key — in music
  22. spell — magic
  23. last — to go on
  24. sharp — clever

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