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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. scale — in music
  3. drill — a practice
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. stem — to come from
  8. root — the cause
  9. drill — army training
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wound — an injury
  13. root — of a plant
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. scale — size or range
  19. drill — the tool
  20. root — of a word
  21. wound — an injury
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. straw — a straw man

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