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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — thin
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. root — of a plant
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. root — the cause
  12. field — a subject
  13. spring — the season
  14. field — farmland
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spring — of water
  18. wake — a trail
  19. cell — a phone
  20. field — for sport
  21. cell — in biology
  22. spring — a coil
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cell — in a prison

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