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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. root — of a plant
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. saw — the tool
  6. root — the cause
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. saw — the tool
  16. root — of a word
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. cold — an illness
  19. plane — a tool
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. content — the amount
  22. wake — a trail
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. cold — the Cold War

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